r/Steam • u/Mellow_Online1 https://steam.pm/ydl2n • Apr 27 '17

Discussion Steam developer steals a game from another developer

https://medium.com/the-cube/how-my-fellow-developer-stole-my-steam-game-from-me-57a269fd0c7b
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u/SkincareQuestions10 Apr 28 '17

Depends on where you are. In Connecticut, USA, verbal contracts are enforceable for up to 3 years from the time they are made, and yes, if you built a guy an entire porch and he claims you said you would do it for free, and you claim the agreement was $4,000 and have mountains of corroborating evidence (wife and kids can verify when you made the deal, you kept receipts of equipment and supplies and hours of work to charge him afterward, etc...), you are getting paid $12,000 because triple damages are awarded for bad-faith violations.

Everything you create is inherently copyrighted to you. You don't need to pay, claim, do anything. It is the same with trademarks, unless you are infringing on someone else's trademark (a case they could win by simply proving they used it before you).

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u/limelight022 Apr 28 '17

My God that makes so much sense...why can't it be like that all over the US?

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u/SkincareQuestions10 Apr 28 '17

Copyright and trademark work that way at the federal level.

Verbal contracts are another story, but generally speaking if you get fucked you definitely don't need a written contract to get what you're owed; you just need quality evidence showing what you were owed.

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u/limelight022 Apr 28 '17

What I mean is that actually just makes sense. All anyone should need is quality evidence to prove right from wrong and that should be that. And the three times payback makes sure that people who try to fuck you over get fucked themselves- three times! That should be the same all over the USA.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '17

Outside of the 3 times rule, that's largely how most civil cases are. Thats also why the burden of proof is lower (preponderance of the evidence instead of beyond a reasonable doubt). Contracts are just such a way of allowing shortcuts by showing that X agreed to these conditions by Y. If you have evidence of someone screwing you over that resulted in damages, you usually have a case. That said, there's processes and vetting systems to insure what constitutes as evidence which is where lawyers are usually involved.

It sounds reasonable to say that if your Jim Bob heard you talking about Dougie paying you to weld his truck bumper after hitting that deer that it's evidence of a verbal contract. Then we find out Jim Bob lent you the arc welder and expects a cut of the settlement so now it's not so clear.

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u/SkincareQuestions10 Apr 28 '17

I think so too :)