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From TorrentFreak, via SoylentNews: The Swedish Court of Appeals has upheld a copyright infringement verdict against the founder of a website that distributed fan-created subtitles.

How long until video game publishers use this precedent to attack RomHacking.net and the like?

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tepples wrote:From TorrentFreak, via SoylentNews: The Swedish Court of Appeals has upheld a copyright infringement verdict against the founder of a website that distributed fan-created subtitles.

How long until video game publishers use this precedent to attack RomHacking.net and the like?

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Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like there's some pretty big differences. The script of a movie IS COPYRIGHTED. Even if a fan is the one to transcribe them, they are distributing a copyright work. (That's not to say that maybe it shouldn't be considered fair use, or maybe it's a stupid business strategy to sue them). Rom Hacks distributed as ips patches AREN'T distributing a copyrighted work by themselves.

gauauu wrote:The script of a movie IS COPYRIGHTED.

So is the script of a game. For example, cutscripts.s in Thwaite is subject to the same copyright conditions as the rest of the game.

tepples wrote:

gauauu wrote:The script of a movie IS COPYRIGHTED.

So is the script of a game. For example, cutscripts.s in Thwaite is subject to the same copyright conditions as the rest of the game.

Oh, didn't realize you were talking about translations. Yeah, that's probably technically breaking copyright. So the question comes down to whether the company cares enough to enforce it.

tepples wrote:How long until video game publishers use this precedent to attack RomHacking.net and the like?

Why, is Romhacking.net moving to Sweden?

IPS translation patches have always been a copyright violation as a derivative work, AFAIK. The reason those subtitlers came under fire I think comes down to these being subtitles for movies that are relatively new and actively pursued by their owners for IP violation.

I don't think a translation has any special legal protection, but it probably does help via obscurity.

It's one matter to post subtitles in the original language of the film, while the film is still actively being marketed. It's quite another to publish a translation in a language the company never targeted, years after it stopped making any money for them.

rainwarrior wrote: It's one matter to post subtitles in the original language of the film, while the film is still actively being marketed. It's quite another to publish a translation in a language the company never targeted, years after it stopped making any money for them.

Yep, which is exactly what I meant by "So the question comes down to whether the company cares enough to enforce it."

A problem with these 'fansubs' is that they're not really.. fansubs (as in a fan that loves a show or something and want to make it better justice than some official translation that is subpar) They're of poor quality/quickly translated, often done to a title which already has a decent official translation (and as such only serves the purpose of piracy), and they are hosted on a site whose purpose is grabbing cash off ads. As such, they serve a commercial purpose piggybacking off someones' copyright (and potentially harming the IP by distorting it).

They're basically there to enable piracy on active products without regard to quality.

rainwarrior wrote:

tepples wrote:How long until video game publishers use this precedent to attack RomHacking.net and the like?

Why, is Romhacking.net moving to Sweden?

You are correct that it wouldn't be binding precedent in RHDN's jurisdiction. But this kind of stuff tends to spread quickly throughout Europe and then across ponds, both in copyright owners' courage to assert their exclusive rights and in pressure on judicial and legislative branches to "update your copyright regime to emerging international standards".