Quote from msleeper on November 1, 2011, 4:38 pm

My problem is that you have taken the backwards stance of "if you don't like your map here, tell me and I'll take it down". Rather than asking permission first before hosting the files there. But really my problem is that you blatantly scraped my site for our content using a Java bot.

You're not doing me a favor by being a "free mirror". I don't want a free mirror.

And you clearly have a very poor understanding of the EULA if you think that you're allowed to rehost files without the author's permission, or that someone who makes a map does not retain copyright to their intellectual property, just because it's a map for a Source engine game.

Quote from MasterLagger on November 1, 2011, 5:11 pm

Very good point and just for the record: even Valve has the courtesy of asking third-party mappers to use their maps (Ex. Cold Stream of L4D2, some of the Team Fortress 2 maps were made by third-party groups/individuals) to use as official maps/campaigns.

Quote from msleeper on November 1, 2011, 5:14 pm

I'm not certain on the L4D2 campaign but I can't imagine it's different, but I know that for the TF2 maps that Valve paid the original mappers for the copyright to the map. At that point, and at that point only, did the original author lose copyright against their map.

Quote from MasterLagger on November 1, 2011, 5:17 pm

True, they did lose copyright, but they still got credit for it (in regards to the TF2 maps). Cold Stream was created by Matthew Lourdelet, but I don't know the whole story with that. I would think that the mapper(s) would be informed about losing copyright when Valve is discussing about buying maps.

Quote from spongylover123 on November 1, 2011, 5:53 pm

The EULA states that any software valve make has their rights

Quote:

All title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to the Software and any and all copies thereof are owned by Valve and/or its licensors. All rights reserved, except as expressly stated herein. The Software is protected by the copyright laws of the United States, international copyright treaties and conventions and other laws. The Software contains certain licensed materials and Valve's licensors may protect their rights in the event of any violation of this Agreement.

It also states that what you make is yours.

Quote:

All title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to the Software and any and all copies thereof are owned by Valve and/or its licensors. All rights reserved, except as expressly stated herein. The Software is protected by the copyright laws of the United States, international copyright treaties and conventions and other laws. The Software contains certain licensed materials and Valve's licensors may protect their rights in the event of any violation of this Agreement

It also states that

Quote:

Except as otherwise permitted under Section 2(C) with regard to the SDK, you may not, in whole or in part, COPY, photocopy, reproduce, translate, reverse engineer, derive source code, modify, disassemble, decompile, create derivative works based on, or remove any proprietary notices or labels from the Software or any software accessed via Steam without the prior consent, in writing, of Valve.

What I'm saying is you have no right to do anything with our map except playing it, other things are only with consent of the creator. You also have no right to redistribute maps that you downloaded.

Quote from T3rm1 on November 1, 2011, 6:41 pm

Sorry but that's not true.
Valve owns this map. So Valve has the copyright. I don't like that the author loses all rights, too. This sucks.
Another important thing is that this is a user license agreement. A license agreement or parts of it are only valid if they don't violate any laws.

For a better understanding read the following example: If you buy an IPhone it is legal to jailbreak it since you are allowed to do whatever you want with hardware you own (this is a law). However you violate the EULA of apple. Apple may now take action (e.g. prevent you from using certain feature; warranty voids). There is no way to enforce an EULA by law.

Again: Anyone can email me if he doesn't want his map on this site. Since only 3 people did this so far I assume most authors appreciate a wider distribution of their map.

Kind regards!

Quote from Spam Nugget on November 1, 2011, 6:46 pm

The point is that we shouldnt have to email you. you should never have put them on the site without permission.

Quote from msleeper on November 1, 2011, 6:52 pm

T3rm1 wrote:

Sorry but that's not true.
Valve owns this map. So Valve has the copyright. I don't like that the author loses all rights, too. This sucks.

This is 100% incorrect.

I also have no choice at this point but to continue to take action with your host as you are unwilling to remove the content from your site.

I again want to urge any map authors who do not want their content to be redistributed without their permission to file the DMCA claim back on page 3 of this thread. Thanks.