Yes, those games have always infringed on intellectual property, and have always been against the rules. Roblox will not take them down unless the IP holder sends a DMCA request to them, but you walk a thin line by having them on the site. A DMCA is the best possible outcome – the IP holder could sue you for damages as well. Having to worry about your game being removed at any given time is also not a good position to be in.
Generally the better option here is to make a game inspired by the IP you like, rather than copying it outright. Note that it has to be sufficiently different for it to not infringe on IP – not just a knockoff with all the names changed.
How often do we see this on roblox… far too often.
Quite pleased that Roblox is finally trying to make the public be more aware about IPs, though I think this should of been done a lot sooner. However, non the less this is a good step in the right direction.
If a company is sponsored with roblox do we still need a licenses from said company to make a game in roblox with ideas or designs from the company because like most developers range from 14 to 29 or higher so I doubt a company would listen to a 14 year old or 20 year old they would most likely think we are kidding.
You need a license to make a game using any content that is not yours. If Roblox has a sponsored game with some corporation once, that doesn’t allow you to use any of the content. That only allowed the team who made the sponsored game to use some of the content that the corporation specifically let them and only them use. It gave that development team a license, not you.
I don’t understand how this relates.
Sponsored games have deals with other corporations to show the sponsored content. The corporation may have gone to Roblox or to the specific game’s developers. Corporations do this because Roblox is an excellent advertising opportunity with its millions of players. Corporations don’t really care how old the developers are, as long as they are mature, can enter a contract (18+) and follow all laws, including copyright.
… never said anything about sponsored games. I ment companies that sponsor roblox “not talking about games still” unless I have what sponsoring is wrong. Anyways so I would assume they would just go sure go ahead use our content. asking for permission from a company to use their content sounds like they would most likely go “lol your 18 and you don’t have a company or know if the game will be successful but still want to use our product which could make you money the answer is nope”.
Could you give me an example of “the company sponsors roblox”?
I’m aware of stand-alone Roblox games that are made for sponsors, and I’m aware of already-made Roblox games that have sponsor advertisement/events added in. In both of these cases, the only people who can use the sponsor’s content are those making the sponsored game, and they can only use certain content that the sponsor allows under certain conditions.
Is there some other situation where a company sponsors Roblox that I’m not aware of? Could you give me an example?
The only other thing I can think of is Gear or Accessories that are made for a sponsor. I don’t know whether or not you can use those, but I would not suggest using them.
You would likely receive a similar response – albeit with a completely different tone – yes. This would apply to nearly any single person or small business that asks to use a big corporation’s content, though. If the sponsor would say no to you using your content when you ask then that means that you don’t have a license to use it. Not asking doesn’t give you a license just because they haven’t said “no”. If they have not explicitly stated “you can use this” then you cannot use it.
I know that… but eh forget it the issue is this is a kids platform so anyway that you look at it 98% of companies will turn you down unless you are a well known roblox developer. Issue isn’t the laws and stuff but more so the age groups. As for the sponsor thing I thought companies sponsor roblox meaning like monthly or yearly they pay roblox. Didn’t realize it was specifically for events only.
The following is not a official statement from SyncAdmin Limited and does not constitute as legal advice.
It is worth noting that some assets on Roblox come with special terms and it’s important you research this sort of stuff before hand.
A company I work for (SyncAdmin Limited), operates their own polices on top of that of Roblox. Such polices as Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, Trademark Guidelines, EULAs, etc (More information on these polices are found in game [ToS and privacy ONLY].
These sort of polices do exist on Roblox assets and it’s important you research beforehand.
Standard Legal Disclaimer
This is not legal advice, and I am not a lawyer. Please seek professional advice. Any of the statements or comments made above should be regarded as personal and not necessarily those my past; current or future employers, along with any constituent part or connected body.
When the companies sponser a game they have exact regulations as to how they want their product to be represented to the potential customer.
For this reason they don’t just throw their license willy-nilly as advertising/representation can be just as harmful to the company/license in question as it can benefit it, this for example is the reason the whole youtube-adcopalypse happened.
Copyright’s freakin confusing man, though it makes total sense and I respect that, however I got some questions still…
What I’m getting here is that, if you have an already-known IP in your game, not only is it against the ToS, but the original owner will contact YOU instead of Roblox themselves (asking on behalf that it’s the platform the asset is loaded on), however, if you make stuff that is completely original FOR the platform (i.e. textures, music), it’s considered against the ToS?
In theory, does world location matter in any of this, considering laws are different in other countries? I think the answer points to yes anyways.
Say you want to use an IP that is long-forgotten or the original creators are no-longer in business and have no control to their licenses. Does this still fall under violation?
Tiny rant: It’s all really unnecessarily confusing and complex. That concludes my rant.
I’m probably forgetting something. Let me know if I am please.
No, the original owner will contact Roblox instead of you.
No, making original content and uploading it to the platform is not against the ToS
No. US DMCA laws do not require IP to be registered under a US copyright. Just owning the IP, even if registered in another country, is enough to request a takedown.
Yes, still falls under violation.
It’s actually really simple: only use content in your game made by you, content you’ve purchased, content you’ve obtained permission from the owner to use, or content that you’re honoring the license of.
This is something I’ve been wondering about: I’ve attempted to contact ROBLOX support and send a DMCA takedown notice, but I was basically laughed at, and they said that it’s my own fault and that ROBLOX can’t do anything about it.
How does IP work when working in Team Create? If I make a model in a Team Create and someone else steals it, do I still own the copyright?
Technically you do, but there is no way for Roblox to prove that you are the creator of said model. As always, try to make sure that you are working with trusted developers in Team Create.
Putting your name in a script to prove ownership of it could be abused, especially in Team Create. Imagine that your friend sneaks in his name at the top of a script that you made.
That’s not how you are supposed to do it. Section 6(C)(1) of the Roblox Terms of Use describes the proper procedures for filing a DMCA takedown.
Quoted
(1) Notice. We respect the intellectual property rights of others and we ask you to do the same. If you are a copyright owner or an agent of a copyright owner and believe that any content on the Service infringes upon your copyrights, you may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) by contacting our Copyright Agent at copyright_agent@roblox.com or Legal, P.O. Box 1265, San Mateo, CA 94401. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with all of the requirements of this Section 6(C), your DMCA notice may not be valid. You must provide the following information in writing (see 17 U.S.C 512(c)(3) for further detail):
(a) An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other right being infringed;
(b) A description of the copyright-protected work or other intellectual property right that you claim has been infringed; (c) A description of the material that you claim is infringing and where it is located;
(d) Your address, telephone number, and email address;
(e) A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the use of those materials is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
(f) A statement by you that the above information in your notice is accurate and that, under penalty of perjury, you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner’s behalf.
You should read all of that section of the Terms of Use to understand how the system works.
You can probably find template DMCA takedown forms online.
If you don’t submit all that information, Roblox will not take you seriously. They also might not take you seriously if it’s over something trivial.
Thank you for your information about this incident. Unfortunately after our review we will be unable to remove the models in question. With time and dedication could be built to replicate your models, and this is not against the Rules of Terms of Service.
While you do retain a copyright in your UGC, please read the entire section of the Terms of Service found under Section 6B subsection ii note b. Please note that other users on Roblox are allowed to make models that are similar to yours.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth
Technical Support
Roblox
Even though it was a script, and the same, letter by letter. Quite dissapointing, but oh well…
