Japanese Game Website Owner Arrested For Screenshot Scans 48
Thanks to 1UP for its news story reporting that the owner of popular Japanese videogame website Gameonline has been arrested for copyright violation regarding unauthorized screenshot scans, since "several hundred [screenshots available on the site] were allegedly found to have been taken from magazines and overseas game sites without the permission of the game publisher, a violation of Japanese copyright law." The story continues by explaining: "Gameonline, one of the most popular game sites in Japan until its sudden closure last month, was a for-profit site that made its money exclusively via advertising. The site's owner had received permission from several Japanese publishers to post screenshots from their games, but other companies, including SNK Playmore, Capcom, Square Enix, and Namco, allegedly found media from their games posted on the site without their permission, leading to today's arrest."
Seems pretty straightforward (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course... (Score:5, Insightful)
Screenshots are the artistic work of the player (Score:3, Insightful)
a screenshot is the person who performed the gameplay
required to put the game into that configuration.
Pissing on your customers is bad business, by the way.
Re:Screenshots are the artistic work of the player (Score:2, Insightful)
several hundred [screenshots] were allegedly found to have been taken from magazines and overseas game sites without the permission of the game publisher
He wasn't just posting screenshots, he was taking other sites & companies' screenshots. Perhaps there wouldn't have been a problem if he'd made them all himself?
I wonder... (Score:2, Insightful)
My thoughts. (Score:4, Insightful)
And likewise, I think it's equally stupid that artist who make pictures [slashdot.org] for Linux get upset when Linux developers use their pictures. I mean, it gets to a point where we should just keep our stuff to ourselves if we are THAT concerned about someone using it for something that you didn't intend.
Yeah yeah, I know. Beating a dead horse, and being hopelessly idealistic. But I really do think that people need to just step back once in a while and take a good long thought if what they are doing is worth it, or if it's just plain pointless to even be thinking about it.
Exclusive? (Score:3, Insightful)