Cease & Desist Letter

[KebreI]

More then CT:CE I am going to miss others even more.



We have way to many acronyms by the way.

[IAmSerge]

I want to beat them at their own game. I want to make a game that blows them out of the WATER for what they've done. A game designed to SINK THEM. And you know what? If people make fangames of my stuff, I'll be FLATTERED, and I'll be sending them congratulatory emails instead of snotty C&Ds. Bastards. Unbelievable, sickening, arrogant, BASTARDS.

after I get my major (or maybe even masters) in CSCI, I plan on creating my own company (er... more like a group of guys) who will be dedicated to making RPGs.  We will work extremely hard on our first one, especially.... and we will endorse fandom, and fan games.  Hell, if it were up to me, I would post links to the fangames on our site (the good ones atleast).

[FaustWolf]

Anyone intending to get into the business professionally, be sure to study up on the hell other new developers are going through. Reading through the GameFAQs forum of a DS title called Black Sigil is a real eye-opener, for example.

[Lena Andreia]

Yeah, I'd heard about them. :/ That's a bridge I'm not quite sure how to cross. It's difficult... I sort of wish I'd been born 20 years earlier. It would have been a lot easier to make a name for yourself back before the video game industry was so conglomerated.

[Lord J Esq]

History can take a long time to unfurl. The overly restrictive copyright claims so routinely made by today's media corporations will eventually compel liberalization in intellectual property law, and, before that, will inspire a thriving independent scene across all genres and media. (Indeed, that is already becoming the case.) So long as there remains an accessible and neutral Internet for people to come together however they like, the only thing we stand to lose in defeats like this one is our sense of loyalty to the products of those who demonstrably have so little respect for us or willingness to work with us.

Everyone in the community should take two lessons away from this experience, and never forget them:

1. Support net neutrality, which enables everyone to become a publisher.
2. Fanfiction is a wading pool for learners. At some point, serious artists will need to strike out on their own with independent projects.

I'm sorry to see Crimson Echoes get sunk just days before its release after years of development, but, let's face it: Square Enix has the right to be dirty little tyrants with their work. Live and learn. And don't forget that it's perfectly okay to remember their great games fondly, while still boycotting or battling their restrictive practices. One needn't be an unyielding enemy, or an unswerving ally. Reward good behavior and punish bad; don't think that Square Enix gives a damn about anything we might do or say in response to their heavy-handed action, and don't waste your time by vowing eternal hatred toward them, but think of their immaturity next time you're considering opening your wallet to buy one of their products. And support independent developers!

In the meanwhile, now's just the right time for a little righteous anger and over-the-top slander. Go for it!

[OverlordMikey]

I know everyone's upset, but if we act like raving lunatics then it will only be counterproductive to long term goals. Isn't our long term goal an official sequel? I to am upset about CE (it‘s the reason I started posting again), but boycotting SE games and sending them threats would end badly. It's true copyright claims are getting out of control, but it's still their legal right (even if it sucks) so let's try not to go overboard. Wait this strike wouldn't hinder my ability to play SE games I already own would it (I can't live with out My FFVI and Chrono Trigger DS!)?

[Jutty]

Why boycott and punish ourselves. Pirate the shit out of everything they release.

[Lord J Esq]

Why boycott and punish ourselves. Pirate the shit out of everything they release.

That's not an appropriate comment to be making, especially at a time like this, and it is not representative of the Compendium's official policy.

[KebreI]

Two notes A) a C&D is not legal action just a warning of possible future action(in this case May 13th 2009) still its best to be smart and comply when its completely in there right.

But one thing just caught my eye, they say we must remove Temporal Flux. Under the reasoning that it is in violation of Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The act pretty much is about anything reproduces, alters, or replicates  a game, program, or app is not legal and so forth with bigger words. This was done in 1998, then in 2000, 2003, and 2006 several exception to that rule were made. Namely:

(3) Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as a condition of access. A format shall be considered obsolete if the machine or system necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.

Just saying I haven't seen a SNES on shelves in long time...

[Jutty]

Why boycott and punish ourselves. Pirate the shit out of everything they release.

That's not an appropriate comment to be making, especially at a time like this, and it is not representative of the Compendium's official policy.

 

[Lord J Esq]

Two notes A) a C&D is not legal action just a warning of possible future action(in this case May 13th 2009) still its best to be smart and comply when its completely in there right.

But one thing just caught my eye, they say we must remove Temporal Flux. Under the reasoning that it is in violation of Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The act pretty much is about anything reproduces, alters, or replicates  a game, program, or app is not legal and so forth with bigger words. This was done in 1998, then in 2000, 2003, and 2006 several exception to that rule were made. Namely:

(3) Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as a condition of access. A format shall be considered obsolete if the machine or system necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.

Just saying I haven't seen a SNES on shelves in long time...

Wouldn't that kind of exemption apply more to something like an emulator than to a much more hack-oriented program like Temporal Flux? I agree with you that these kinds of references are often only subjected to the narrowest logical justification by the part of the corporate legal team--many of them would be legitimately contestable, but we lose anyway by going to court in the first place (unless you're bankrolling the lawyers). The corporate C&D tactic relies on people like us getting scared and clamming up, and making more concessions than are being demanded of us. However, in this case, there's no profit to be had from picking that particular battle, and I don't see how we could separate TF from ROM hacking in general.

[Xshu]

We have already destroyed all known copies of Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes and other modifications and projects.

Suuure you have. 

[ZaichikArky]

Wow this is so depressing. I can't believe that SE would do this right before its release when it was 98% done, well actually I can, but I didn't think it would come to this. I'm really sorry, ZeaLity and everyone else who worked so hard on this project.  I was really looking forward to this and now no one gets to even see it other than the beta testers. Gah I feel like crying : (.

[Daniel Krispin]

We have already destroyed all known copies of Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes and other modifications and projects.

Suuure you have. 

Likely they have. ZeaLitY and the rest are nothing if not professional in their actions. What has always set them apart from the raving fanboys is that they act with passion but also with reasoned determination. They will act in accordance with the law, as bitter as that feels.

[Xshu]

I guess, but... I don't know. If I worked on something for this many years, I would at least keep a personal copy for myself. I imagine at least one of them have done the same. Why destroy something they worked on for so long? Of course, for legal purposes I wouldn't expect anyone to admit it or let anyone else get a hold of their copy.

I just want to believe it still exists in some form. Just let me dream.