Unfortunately, it can take quite a bit of money to get those damages returned. "They may also be entitled to additional damages under US Unfair Competition/Trademark (Lanham Act) law, which may be at a minimum actual profits seen from sales of the clone game and at a maximum-if, for example, they registered their mark-treble damages." "If they chose to pursue a claim, under US Copyright law they would likely be entitled to a choice between statutory damages if they registered and included a copyright symbol with their work, or actual damages/profits from the sale-it's a choice as to what you decide to go after, what you're entitled to based on statutory requirements and actual harm suffered, and actual profits seen by the defendant," Ibrahim told Ars.
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Ibrahim, an entertainment lawyer who specializes in the area of copyright law, if the studio did decide to seek out damages, it would have two different choices for how to proceed. "You never know what you might find happening with something you worked hard to create." You have the right to an attorney, if you can afford oneĮven if Halfbot decides not to pursue legal action, the option does exist. "I don't think there is too much we can do as developers to stop theft like this from happening to keep your eyes open and your ear to the ground," Laufman told Ars. Even still, the experience was a sobering one for Halfbot, who realized that there are few options when it comes to fighting this sort of thing. For a small, little-known company this was extremely helpful and likely the reason that the clone was eventually taken down. The story received a great deal of attention after a number of news outlets, starting with Destructoid, posted the news. The situation also taught Laufman and Samuel the power of the Internet. "It's no different at that point than stealing money from our wallets." However, when you decide to steal our name, our art, and try to capitalize on a brand that we created, well then we have a serious problem.
If we had only our concept copied then that wouldn't have bothered us as much. We definitely don't see a problem with that as long as it's within reason. It's good for the game industry, like it is for all creative mediums. We wouldn't have Call of Duty and Medal of Honor to choose from if this wasn't the case. "Our feeling is that a game 'concept' or 'mechanic' are commonly used to inspire new ideas and create new games," he told Ars. Clones and copycats are nothing new to the games industry, especially in the App Store, but this was something different. While he declined to say whether or not Halfbot would be pursing any sort of legal action, Laufman does believe that EdisonGame definitely crossed a line. Image courtesy Destructoid Too close for comfort The game has since been taken down, but for Halfbot the damage may already be done. It eventually made into the top 100, selling to unsuspecting-or uncaring-customers for $0.99.
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Feeling very helpless at that moment I decided to reach out to some media outlets and warn people to avoid buying this stolen game."Īt the time, the game had cracked the top 200 chart in the App Store, and was actually featured in Apple's "New and Noteworthy" section. We tried to find information on this EdisonGame company to contact them, but there was no website and no email contacts to be found. I created an image of a side-by-side comparison of the two games as proof and included it along with a link to our original Flash game. "We managed to find one, so I emailed Apple outlining the situation and how it infringed on our copyright. "We were scrambling late that night to find an email address to contact Apple," Laufman told Ars. Just two days later, they discovered the copy. "We will be looking into iPhone, Android, and other platforms for some of our future titles and we look forward to all the challenges that go along with that," Laufman wrote on the studio's blog. After some success developing Flash games, on January 12 the studio announced it would be getting into the mobile market.
And while everything seems to have turned out all right, the story of Halfbot and The Blocks Cometh is one filled with plenty of frustration.įounded last May, Halfbot consists of just two developers: Melvin Samuel and Derek Laufman. It wasn't just the gameplay that was stolen, but the actual art assets and even the name. The small, two-man studio from London, Ontario was the victim of an incredibly bold clone of the game The Blocks Cometh. That's the situation that Halfbot Games found itself in. Then, one day, while browsing the App Store, you see your game. Imagine this: you and a partner develop a popular Flash game, one that's good enough that you decide to get to work on an iPhone port.
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