Hopefully this is the correct topic, I apologize if not.
I was the co-owner of a group for 2 years and we developed 2 games during that time. 2 of the head developers and the owner of the group got into a dispute. This dispute ended with the 2 head of developers resigning. I ended up becoming the owner of the group after the original owner resigned a couple months after this incident.
The 2 head of developers have recently contacted me to say they want all the assets they created removed from the game which I’ve decided better to just honor it but they are also threatening a DMCA takedown. The interesting thing is that they deleted one of our old communication servers that would include most of the conversation regarding asset ownership not too long before i was informed of this.
My question is do these developers have any legal base for a DMCA takedown? Both of them were volunteers and were not paid for their work (they weren’t held to any activity requirements or anything just pure voluntary work) but it was also stated for all developers that any assets made for the group were owned by the group but they deleted the server that showed they agreed to it.
if someone wants their assets removed you remove them. extremely disrespectful to not honor asset creators’ wishes, especially when you consider the work they put into them
If the developers in question created assets for your group’s games, and the agreement between your group and the developers stipulated that any assets created for the group were owned by the group, then it would seem that your group has the right to use those assets in your games. However, the fact that the developers deleted the communication server where ownership of the assets was discussed may complicate matters. If they can demonstrate that they did not agree to the terms of ownership, they may have a basis for a DMCA takedown request, but I doubt it. It might be a good idea to try to resolve the issue with the developers if you still have contact.
They cannot do this and this is likely a bluff. If they were paid or agreed to work on it, and if they do not have any sort of legal rights to the assets, they cannot. I’m pretty sure that anything uploaded to Roblox or the group basically frees the asset of its creator’s ownership. I also think that anything uploaded to the Roblox library becomes Creative Commons, so anyone can use it.
In summary, no, they cannot do a thing about it and you should tell them to get lost.