VR Mods compatible with GTA V etc. have been withdrawn at the request of the seller. Mod developer who earns 2.7 million yen a month, puzzled by copyright infringement

In Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series, the mods corresponding to the series works were suspended one after another last year and attracted attention. The parent company Take-Two Interactive (Take-Two) is believed to have filed a copyright infringement. And recently, it seems that another incident has occurred. Overseas media Kotaku reports.

Mod developer Luke Ross announced on July 7 that he had received a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) allegation from Take-Two. He is the developer of VR mods for GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Mafia II Complete Edition, and more. It is a mod that allows you to play from the first person perspective through VR, where you normally play from the third person perspective. Take-Two, the parent company that sells these works, has filed a claim to remove it because it is a copyright infringement, to the operator of Patreon, which distributed the mod.

In response, Ross told overseas media Kotaku that he was confused. He says he doesn't use the original Take-Two-owned software, assets, or IPs in the mods, nor does he modify the corresponding games as if they were his own. He also claims that a corresponding game is absolutely necessary to enjoy his mod, and that it should only be a plus for developers and distributors in terms of sales.

So Ross thinks his VR mod isn't a piracy. However, if you receive a DMCA notice, Patreon's operator will remove the content after 48 hours, even if you intend to file an objection. Ross then deleted all content related to Take-Two's work, including mods.

Ross says he's likely to ask Take-Two specifically which part of the mod is a piracy, but there's no answer. Including last year's event (related article) mentioned at the beginning of this article, modding continues to be withdrawn without a clear reason, especially overseas, gamers who are critical of Take-Two's response. It is often seen.

One possible reason why Take-Two wants to withdraw these mods is the EULA (End User License Agreement) published by Rockstar Games. It does not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the product, create product-based derivatives, or otherwise modify the product. VR modding could be this.

Rockstar Games has also published guidelines for single-player mods that it has set up in consultation with Take-Two. The content is to allow modding and distribution based on certain conditions. One of the conditions is that it is for non-profit purposes. Ross says he earns more than $ 20,000 a month from Patreon's patronage (The Verge). This may not be non-profit. However, it cannot be said whether these can be used as a basis for alleging copyright infringement and filing a DMCA claim. By the way, Ross received the DMCA notice from Take-Two shortly after the above-mentioned income article was published. He seems to have been active since 2017, but he said that he had not had such troubles so far.

Ross criticized Take-Two's response as a use of lies and loopholes. He states that anything that interacts with the company's IP, whether it's a full-fledged work or a minor bug fix, is considered derivative work and is being asked to withdraw. And when it's time to act to stop the abuse of these rights, he's calling on fans to speak out, including participating in signing activities on the online signing site Change.org. Attention will be focused on how Take-Two reacts to such activities.