Butterfly media pirateware

[Arantor]

Well, it hasn't expired any "licensing laws" in the UK or the USA.

At the very least it will still fall under copyright which will exist until at least 50 years after the death of the creators (frequently 70 years plus)

Additionally if you want to encourage eBay to do something about it, just mention that any sniff of a crack will contravene the DMCA legislation in the USA (regarding removal of copy protection)

[Jadefalcon]

Strangely enough, I checked today and I've got a refund...I wonder if he suddenly had a change of heart and thought it wasn't worth bothering about.

[TelaKeppi]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but im in the same situation. I already filed a complaint in PayPal, but they send me message they require a third party documentation supporting my claim. Quote:

"obtain a document from an unbiased, third-party, such as a dealer,
appraiser, or an organization that is qualified in the area of the item in
question (other than yourself), which clearly identifies the item as not
authentic."

This is what i received:
http://tinyurl.com/4y9gt4
http://tinyurl.com/3fyt87
http://tinyurl.com/4he62k

Im running low on ideas, since they gave me only week to deliver this "document". I already contacted local games dealer, but he was busy. I would really appreciate it if someone here could come up with a text i could use as a expert opinion to defend my case. My case is closed Dec. 19. Maybe in the future it could be used in a similar situation.

[DCDayDreamer]

It all depends which version of the BASS game they sold to you, check the files on the CD and post your results. On the freeware release via ScummVM there's a readme with this included:

License:
...
3) You may not charge a fee for the game itself. This includes reselling the
game as an individual item.

If it's the freeware version it should have the readme included, if it's a direct one to one copy from an original BASS CD, the company in question would need permission from Revolution and the original distributor of that CD (highly unlikely). The company in question would also need to put some sort of license on the CD which points to them as the new copyright holders (which they claim to be).

[eriktorbjorn]

If it's the freeware version

I thought it was the Amiga version of the game, which ScummVM doesn't support. I guess it could be the DOS version with an Amiga version of ScummVM. However, the depicted CD says "(c)2001 BMH Software Ltd". Beneath a Steel Sky became freeware in 2003. At least, that's when the announcement was made.

Of course, that still doesn't prove that it's not a legitimate version. Though if it is, I'd have thought there would be something more specific than a vague reference to "the original author" and a defunct URL.

[TelaKeppi]

No readme or licence whatsoever, this is what it looks like:

Code: Select all

/Volumes/CDTV_TEST telakeppi$ ls -la
total 1020
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    2048 Sep  2  1992 .
drwxrwxrwt   6 root      admin        204 Dec 18 14:57 ..
-rwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp  298700 Sep  2  1992 SteelSky
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    8192 Sep  2  1992 disk_0
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    4096 Sep  2  1992 disk_1
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    6144 Sep  2  1992 disk_10
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp  145408 Sep  2  1992 disk_11
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    4096 Sep  2  1992 disk_12
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    4096 Sep  2  1992 disk_13
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    4096 Sep  2  1992 disk_14
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    2048 Sep  2  1992 disk_15
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    6144 Sep  2  1992 disk_2
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    4096 Sep  2  1992 disk_3
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    6144 Sep  2  1992 disk_4
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    6144 Sep  2  1992 disk_5
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    2048 Sep  2  1992 disk_6
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    6144 Sep  2  1992 disk_7
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    4096 Sep  2  1992 disk_8
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    4096 Sep  2  1992 disk_9
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    2048 Sep  2  1992 libs
drwxr-xr-x   1 telakepp  telakepp    2048 Sep  2  1992 s

Edit:
Yes, well it is the Amiga version I didn't know it wasn't compatible. I have contacted Revolution, but since i haven't received any reply, looks like i'll loose my case.

[iPwnzorz]

Drop a note on Revolution's forums and grab Tony's attention. Then you might have a chance.

[DCDayDreamer]

Yes, well it is the Amiga version I didn't know it wasn't compatible. I have contacted Revolution, but since i haven't received any reply, looks like i'll loose my case.

Virgin distributed the Amiga CD version of the game, there is no way they'd give "permission" for reproduction without even having their own copyright notice visible on the CD itself. Even if Virgin were stupid enough to give permission, the CD doesn't have Revolution mentioned as the content copyright holders. Both those 'missing' copyright notices are a breach of licensing, but in this case, the pirate most likely didn't want to attract attention to the real copyright holders, if the PayPal complaints department can't see that, they really need some staff training.

"This CD-ROM is reproduced with the kind permission of the original author. All Rights Reserved."
That is absolute rubbish, it's nothing more than a simple disclaimer which can be found on millions of websites. Example: If I had an original CD of anything, then made a backup of it, that would make me the author of that backup, if I gave that backup to someone with permission to reproduce it - they then could use a crappy disclaimer like that on the cover.

"For terms & conditions see amiga-resales.com.au (c)2001 BMH Software Ltd"
It would be useful if the amiga-resales.com.au website existed (I wonder if it ever did?), as for the copyright by BMH, all they can claim to own is the poor cover design.

[eCat]

Hi everyone,

just wanted to let you know that i got some of the crap, too. in my case it's 'The Riddle Of Master Lu' - bought @ ebay.co.uk from the seller 'carival66'. The Game arrived on a CD-R 'Games X-Plosion' from www.butterfly-media.co.uk

trying to get my money back now.

regards,

eCat

[eCat]

refund received.