Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby farcodev » 23 Aug 2011, 21:55

After nearly 2 years and 1 month i'm on this iteration SF removed my project because of "a sizable number of Intellectual Property violations in regards to the 'farcolony' project".

WHAT A BLOW.

So the thief that i am will host future releases of FARC in other places and fuck my ridiculous contribution to the opensource world. I would to end this project first but i don't know why i should and especially after so much WORK (yeah WORK) i passed on it..wait.. oh yeah it's because i'm a thief... what BS.

That's the result to waste hours to check the licenses, sort the external assets, and put the guys on the game's credits page.

Sorry for this rant but i'm a bit fedup.

Edit: SF didn't show me any details about these so called "violations"
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby oln » 23 Aug 2011, 22:15

Sounds really strange and stupid.
They really refuse to let you know what the "violations" were?
Are you going to keep the project FOSS?
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby farcodev » 23 Aug 2011, 22:36

Ya it sounds, here's the copy/paste of my yesterday ticket answer:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello,

The project was removed as we have been unable to reach the 'farcolony' admins in the past, and have had to handle a sizable number of Intellectual Property violations in regards to the 'farcolony' project. As a result, we are no longer willing to host the project, please seek alternate hosting.

Regards,
XXX XXX, SourceForge.net Support
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

here's my answer:
I never been contacted by your service, and all the intellectual properties are free/free to use for non commercial projects/ free w/ credits// CCC or simply made by myself... licenses included, after 3 years i host this project you just waking up and remove me like a thief, be assured i'll make some publicity on the web about your services.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was so fedup that i wrote 3 years instead of 2, but it's a detail.

Apparently they tried "in the past" to contact the "admins"...since i'm the only one on this project i don't think it should be soooo difficult.
Regarding that it doesn't seems that the SF admins wants to give more explanations than that i prefer to not waste my free time with them, i'm already passed in front the judge and convicted.
Considering the FOSS honnestly i don't know now, this s**t is like a cold shower, especially if at the end you're bashed as a thief for whatever reason(s).
I'll look an another FOSS host for sure, but if this wannabe game violate so much things, why i should be...
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby qubodup » 23 Aug 2011, 23:44

A honest mistake I hope, with the possibility to restore I hope.

I created a ticket: https://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/sourc ... cket/21337
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby charlie » 24 Aug 2011, 00:18

Yes, please try not to get too upset farcodev. It must be very distressing to have your passion and hard work trampled on like that but it is possible it is a misunderstanding that can be sorted out.
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby farcodev » 24 Aug 2011, 00:20

Thanks qubodup, i hope too but have a feeling that's not a mistake.
I really don't see where, in the assets or code, they are these famous violations.
In the code i use two tiny parts, which are not from me: one for extract the version number of the game.... the second to locate the my documents folder...
that's about 39 lines of code, compared to more than 42,000 FARC has....
Personnally i don't think these 39 lines are top secret commercial algorythms code, especially when it use window API calls...

The assets are free, all pictures from an another source are credited in game and free to non commercial use at worst. I only asked permission once to one of the creator, J Holland if remember correctly, to use 3 textures and he granted it, it was nearly 2 years ago...

The rest of all that is MINE. Sooo... when people help other people in forum and paste code that you use in your proper code AND that you credit them in the source code comments means that you are a thief....
apart that i don't know and looking forward to your ticket.

Thanks again :)
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby farcodev » 24 Aug 2011, 00:27

charlie {l Wrote}:Yes, please try not to get too upset farcodev. It must be very distressing to have your passion and hard work trampled on like that but it is possible it is a misunderstanding that can be sorted out.


Thanks Charlie :)

Ya you're right, especially when you use your free time on a free stuff. Even if it's done without constraint and with passion, to be annoyed like that for something free that you make and only want to share with other people is a bit disturbing.

We'll see the ticket's answer :cool:
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby charlie » 24 Aug 2011, 00:28

I added a comment to the ticket.
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby farcodev » 24 Aug 2011, 02:55

Ya i seen it, thanks for your support !
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby farcodev » 24 Aug 2011, 20:16

Well, FAR Colony source code has just a new home now: http://code.google.com/p/farcolony/

There's pretty not much for now because i'm at my job yet, but tonight i'll finish to setup the page and upload the SVN trunk on it, so to answer oln's question, yup FARC stay FOSS :)
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby charlie » 24 Aug 2011, 22:36

Cool :D screw Sourceforge. They suck balls.

24776DG~You-Suck-Posters.jpg
24776DG~You-Suck-Posters.jpg (37.65 KiB) Viewed 14351 times
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby qubodup » 24 Aug 2011, 23:19

Please see the reply by sf.net staff at http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/source ... #comment:2
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby farcodev » 25 Aug 2011, 00:30

Thanks but since 2005 !!!
I posted my raging answer hehe

here's the proof:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/692/unled2tx.jpg/

I remember that in 2005 i had an email about it and removed the 3 screenshots, but there was nothing else because there's only THIS spacecraft in question, it's why the "multiple violations" make me laugh.

So reproduce a 3d object like this completely by yourself and put it in a FOSS is a crime, ya right.

So in this case there's many deletions to make in load of other projects... And all 3d artists that remake same models too.
Last edited by farcodev on 25 Aug 2011, 04:13, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby qubodup » 25 Aug 2011, 00:32

Copyright has been a big topic on BlendSwap lately.

Can you link the image/page/artist who made the copyright claim?
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby farcodev » 25 Aug 2011, 00:49

well that's the $
qubodup {l Wrote}:Copyright has been a big topic on BlendSwap lately.

Can you link the image/page/artist who made the copyright claim?


I can imagine..

I just found it: http://www.jiawen.net/starships.html

pictures are the ones of The ISCV Bonaventure

Of course no license of the pics

After many hours i passed on it to remake it and even without MANY details, i don't want to get rid of it.

Anyway since it concern these screenshot there's no question to change anything in MY object.
Last edited by farcodev on 25 Aug 2011, 04:00, edited 7 times in total.
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby farcodev » 25 Aug 2011, 00:58

charlie {l Wrote}:Cool :D screw Sourceforge. They suck balls.

24776DG~You-Suck-Posters.jpg


lol :D
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby Julius » 25 Aug 2011, 12:09

Well... as much as this kind of copyright claim over such a relatively generic design sucks... legally speaking Sf is right (and I bet they don't like this themselves).

That you made everything yourself doesn't matter for a copyright claim, it's the design you copied as you admitted yourself...

So kids... lessons from this story... make your own designs (or take only small parts :p ).
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby charlie » 25 Aug 2011, 13:18

I'm not convinced Julius. You can't so easily copyright design. Car manufacturers would be suing the pants off of each other if you could.

Farcodev's model was inspired by the plaintiff's model. It was not a precise copy. Isn't there a difference? I'm going to email PJ @ Groklaw.
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby farcodev » 25 Aug 2011, 14:45

I'm not convinced too, because in this case you can claim any 3d artist who reproduce any assets from a movie a 2d/3d picture or even a cartoon, like the ones at foundation3d for ex.

Mine isn't even detailed and have no texture, and more than that, the object is mine since i made it from a picture.

So if i understand i only to have to change one detail to make it "legal" ? lol, why not even to copyright a cylinder in this case ?
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby Julius » 25 Aug 2011, 14:48

Except for slightly different proportions of the blue middle part it is more or less a 1:1 copy, so yes this falls under the copyright.
If any car manufacturer would make such a strait copy they would be suing their pants off :p

I guess your best bet is to change it a bit more and find some NASA public domain images with a very similar design to proof "prior art" (although this doesn't work in copyright like in patent law, but it can give you some good alternative inspiration to point at).

However... honestly I find it quite hilarious that someone would go as far as contacting SF several times over the span of half a decade over such a lousy generic design.

Edit:

I'm not convinced too, because in this case you can claim any 3d artist who reproduce any assets from a movie a 2d/3d picture or even a cartoon, like the ones at foundation3d for ex.

Mine isn't even detailed and have no texture, and more than that, the object is mine since i made it from a picture.

So if i understand i only to have to change one detail to make it "legal" ? lol, why not even to copyright a cylinder in this case ?


Yes that is how copyright law works... you can not just take a design from a movie or picture and copy it. Why do you think all those "fan projects" got shut down?

Oh and simply changing a small detail isn't enough. It has to be different enough that is case you get sued you can justify that you never saw the original design (and if you really never saw the original design and by pure chance came up with a more or less 1:1 copy that would be still illegal, unless you can prove that it is a generic design... e.g. something technical where the form is dictated by the function, which is almost impossible to do for art).
However now that it is clear that you used that design, you will have to change it very drastically as the factor "in doubt for the accused" effect is not there any more.

Edit2: as an example: lets say you make a cartoon with a mouse that has two black round ears, white gloves and pants with two buttons in front, Disney would be suing your ass off for using a copyrighted design of Mickey mouse, even if it is all done by yourself and actually looks quite a bit different.
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby Skorpio » 25 Aug 2011, 15:29

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein. ;)
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby farcodev » 25 Aug 2011, 15:38

First, thanks for your post it clarify a lot of things, justify how our world is really f****d up and why people turn away from opensource dev.

Julius {l Wrote}:I guess your best bet is to change it a bit more and find some NASA public domain images with a very similar design to proof "prior art" (although this doesn't work in copyright like in patent law, but it can give you some good alternative inspiration to point at).


Ya i'll go to replace it by a free to use for non commercial project object, i have numerous ones some are even GPLed, and i'll modify it because anyway i passed some hours in this :think:

Julius {l Wrote}:However... honestly I find it quite hilarious that someone would go as far as contacting SF several times over the span of half a decade over such a lousy generic design.


After reading the pretentious biography from the author's website, i'm not suprised.. and i'm agree that's hilarious.

Thanks for the rest of details about how laws works, i never though you could be sued for even a similar picture :?
And to be honest, all these complications just put down my motivation to continue the project.
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby Julius » 25 Aug 2011, 18:15

Naaa, don't get discouraged just because of some crazy people without a real life.

Just make sure you don't do a 1:1 copy of stuff that inspires you next time ;)
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby FreakNigh » 25 Aug 2011, 18:26

You probably just got one of those basement dwelling wikipedia copyright / formality nazi's stuck to your project. Either way it's some super loser who is just trying to "prop themselves on your project" by lieing to try and take it down. There is always some out spoken psychopath who actually can grieve your project especially if it isn't critical mass yet. I've dealt with lots of them... they're wretched... much like forum trolls.
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Re: Hail to the thief, Sourceforge removed my project

Postby farcodev » 26 Aug 2011, 03:14

@Julius: thank you :) Ya it will give me a lesson about that, back to 2005 i didn't have much clue about how the licensing world worked.

@FreakNigh haha you made my day with your post :D you're right, there's too much VIP whinners
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