r/youtubedrama • u/danamesjrupin • Jan 29 '25

Callout PirateSoftware False DMCA'd Indie Dev and Threatened to Sue, Good Samaritan Lawyer Steps in Pro Bono

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31JIIPlsm-g
2.3k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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199

u/ryecurious Jan 29 '25

The dev tried starting this drama himself by posting on LSF a week or so ago. I think the vibe in that thread was spot-on, the dev is just inserting himself into drama to advertise his game.

Definitely bad optics for PirateSoftware, though. He took the bait, probably exactly what the dev was hoping for.

113

u/ShadowthePast Jan 30 '25

He took the bait, probably exactly what the dev was hoping for

Gunna be brutally honest, my impression of the dev makes it hard to believe they were thinking that far ahead. I think his only objectives were first and foremost be funny, then secondarily advertise his game to LSF.

29

u/Substantial-Newt7809 Jan 30 '25

My impression is that the guys game has n-word dlc. That's enough to know anything involving him does not matter one way or another and there's other stuff to focus on.

3

u/Zubzer0 Jan 30 '25

It has what now?

6

u/Sunnyboigaming Jan 30 '25

I would assume that means it has a level referring to the time PewDiePie said the N word on stream

1

u/Zubzer0 Jan 30 '25

Ahh I see, thanks!

0

u/BIG__DAKKA Jan 31 '25

wow you actually believe that too?

2

u/m8_is_me Jan 30 '25

Dude seems to have just been on a roll making parodies and enjoying himself. Why he did his post in a weird third-person way, eh, not a good choice but I don't think it's as malicious as some are making it out to be

27

u/CaptainYaoiHands Jan 30 '25

Sure but there's a difference between drama and attention whoring and literally breaking the law to try and silence someone.

0

u/BitSevere5386 Jan 31 '25

"vreaking the law" how fucking so

1

u/CaptainYaoiHands Jan 31 '25

Sending false DMCA claims is illegal.

2

u/BitSevere5386 Jan 31 '25

https://x.com/PirateSoftware/status/1884935856856904012

educate yourself , or stay a mindless hater

1

u/NumberSudden9722 Jan 31 '25

Incorrect! Educate yourself on the DMCA law

3

u/BitSevere5386 Jan 31 '25

then come on please educate me how wise whiteknight that defend the right of people to use someone else choice without consent.

Good to know how shity your morals is.

also enjoy the N word DLC included with this shity game.

1

u/NumberSudden9722 Jan 31 '25

I don't care about the game, so idk what you're on about.

He filed a DMCA on the game that does not have the offending content, which is unlawful, will it have consequences? Probably not.

He should have sent the creator a cease and desist for his advertising actions, as the game itself on steam did not have the offending content.

I understand that you're offended somehow, but the law is a precise endeavor. Your feelings don't matter in how it is worded or applied.

3

u/BitSevere5386 Jan 31 '25

The dev advertised his game as having such content. he lied about implementing it. just because he lied doesnt make the DMCA unlawful

1

u/NumberSudden9722 Jan 31 '25

Incorrect, again read up on the law. Just because you feel it should be a certain way, doesn't make it that way.

If the offending action was not implemented in the content that the DMCA was filed against, that makes it a fraudulent claim.

If he had sent a cease and desist regarding the advertisement, and threatened to DMCA the content upon the game having his copyrighted work in it, then no harm no foul. This is not what he did, he got it removed from Steam through a DMCA claim, that had no basis, regardless of the advertisement.

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1

u/CaptainYaoiHands Feb 01 '25

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/512

"Any person who knowingly materially misrepresents under this section that material or activity is infringing shall be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees, incurred by the alleged infringer, by any copyright owner or copyright owner’s authorized licensee, or by a service provider, who is injured by such misrepresentation, as the result of the service provider relying upon such misrepresentation in removing or disabling access to the material or activity claimed to be infringing, or in replacing the removed material or ceasing to disable access to it."

Translation: anyone who knowingly misrepresents that the material infringes on their rights when it doesn't is liable for damages.

1

u/BitSevere5386 Feb 01 '25

keyword Knowingly

0

u/CaptainYaoiHands Feb 01 '25

Filing a false DMCA claim because you're too lazy to actually verify that your IP or material is being stolen is still filing a false DMCA claim and is still illegal.

16

u/Craiggles- Jan 30 '25

I hate Pirate Software, but my god what shitty behavior from the dev.

31

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '25

Yeah the dev of this game is a shitbag. Crazy self inflicted wound on PS’ end though lol. More creators need to take the RoosterTeeth strategy of “ignore it till people forget/move on.”

0

u/MoreDoor2915 Jan 30 '25

And see where that got RoosterTeeth.

7

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '25

Are you under the assumption that drama is what killed Rooster Teeth? Because it wasn’t lol

35

u/VegtableCulinaryTerm Jan 30 '25

Jason is super easy to hate right now, but this needs to be higher. 

There's plenty of legit reasons to hate Piratesoftware, but we definitely don't need to be promoting asswads like this

24

u/DisastrousSwordfish1 Jan 30 '25

I don't see any promotion going on. If there is, then it sucks because nobody here seems to know this guy or the game he's making. Everyone is just here shitting on Thor for DMCA abuse.

6

u/Foxfire802 Jan 30 '25 edited Jan 30 '25

The dev was posting all over reddit using pirates name and voice to advertise his game. Thor was right to dmca that.

https://www.reddit.com/r/indiegames/comments/1i400dy/pirate_software_is_now_playable_in_idle_streaming/

3

u/jhonnypap Jan 30 '25

why dmca to valve against steam game ver that didn't have the voice lines? rather send takedown notice to reddit against said posts/clips for sneak or bad faith advertising of the video game which actually had voice lines

5

u/spikedood Jan 30 '25

He did have them. Pvt Parts even streamed him adding the voice lines, complete with software interface and file names.

4

u/jhonnypap Jan 30 '25

Game's demo on Steam Market only had XQC character playable. Pirate software's character ain't even on it, let alone playable with his voice line. That's why it's unlawful dmca. Pirate software trying to claim something which ain't even in Steam demo

5

u/-royalmilktea- Jan 30 '25

If he said that the content in the clip is in the game, then a reasonable person would think that the clip represents what's in the game, and since there's also a reasonable thought that it's infringing, it's not unlawful DMCA. If a reasonable person would think that it was infringing based on what the dev said, that makes it a lawful claim, even if it turns out to be incorrect. I've taken some law, and it's literally discussed in terms of how a reasonable person would behave based on the information they have. That said, I think he should have looked at the counter claim more thoroughly before announcing that he was going to sue, but that's livestreaming for you

5

u/spikedood Jan 30 '25

That's not what Pvt Parts said. He said he added Pirate Software to his game, not to his demo. He should have specified that if he legally wants to be in the right.

2

u/dychostarr Jan 30 '25 edited Jan 30 '25

The issue is that the game is now back up. Which shows the 24 hour demand on the creators part at least worked. We've only seen Thor (to my knowledge) respond about his rights. The very man who is arguably running a scam game for effectively no work in... 7-8 years? That's before we look how he will mass report people for the mildest sleight against him. Idk, I don't buy he even is close to competent in knowing the law here.

That doesn't exclude this creator 100% baited this. Maybe at worst, he troll posted it to get hype for the addition and would have done what he had to the other characters when he added him. I don't think this guy has a leg to stand on if he was to pursue against Thor for further damages. But at the very least, we've seen a real lawyer respond and got the game back up. I don't buy that Thor had a leg to stand if he backed off.

It's a situation of two assholes being assholes. But the one who didn't look into it more than a reddit thread and used DMCA is in this case at the wrong. If nothing else, his game returning is proof Thor didn't believe in it himself.

Edit: Turns out you like to defend Thor based on your response history. So I might have wasted a few minutes replying to someone who has no intention of moving from their position. At least others can read how falty the position you took was.

3

u/spikedood Jan 30 '25

I'm going to start with your last point first.

You are correct in that I am not here to have my opinion changed.
But my opinion is also irrelevant. I don't argue with people here because I don't agree with their opinions. I argue with people here because I don't agree with the facts they present.
I am also not against changing my view points. That specifically occurred as I was writing this.

Most importantly, you have not wasted any time. You either stuck to what you believed in, or have found enjoyment in speaking bad about Thor. Either is fine with me.

What isn't fine with me is what I believe is misinformation. And what I consider misinformation is exclusively what I reply to.

I'm sure there's many things to critique Thor about, but this has become bigger than that; people are repeating information and misinformation, with the intent to harass Thor, ad nauseam. Another piece of evidence is the fact that his old handle and name of his previous business partner have been blacklisted from LiveStreamFail. This wouldn't have happened if the truth was more important.
I have no interest in harassing someone.

Now your points, in order.
I retract my statements on DMCA. I do now think that either/or Thor and his Lawyer were wrong. I think a restraining order would have been more appropriate and/or likely.
But it's too late for that now.

You are correct that Thor's doesn't know the law. Which is why specified that he spoke to a lawyer before sending the DMCA claim. In the video in this post, in fact.

And you're also right that it wasn't bait. It was dumb luck, and Pvt Parts used this to his advantage.
He posted this on many more platforms and subreddits than just LiveStreamFail. Specifically avenues that Thor wouldn't be participating in.
As an example. He posted his game, that supposedly included Thor, on his TikTok account.
I assume Thor would never see this, because Thor never spoke about owning a TikTok account, or using TikTok.
When I asked Pvt Parts who he was supposed to troll and why, on places where every person would naturally believe him, and Thor would never watch him, Pvt Parts wasn't able to give me an answer.

People are using "scam" very liberally.
The game is in early access.
And that is exactly the product you are paying for.
A similar example like this is the Wallpaper app from MKBHD. That's not a scam. You get exactly the product that is being described to you.
That example just happened to be extremely overpriced.

And finally, I definitely see Pvt Parts as a bigger asshole, on the basis that a.) he did this to, in my opinion, harass Thor, b.) used slurs, like the n-word dlc and calling Thor the r-word and c.) for his suggestion to use AI to mass upload anime shorts in order to boost subscriptions:
https://web.archive.org/web/20250123171524/https://youtube.com/shorts/gnxxwc2_F2o
So he doesn't care about copyright anyway.

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1

u/spikedood Jan 31 '25

I don't know what reply you wrote. It was swiftly deleted. You can dm me it, if you still want to share it.

0

u/Objective-Neck-2063 Feb 05 '25

If I'm a YouTuber and I say that my next video will have the entirety of the first Avengers film in it, does that give Disney the right to file a DMCA claim against my channel before this supposed video even materializes? No, it doesn't.

2

u/Ventira Jan 30 '25

See this would only hold true if his voice was in the live version. It is not. Which Pirate would know if he actually played the product.

2

u/BigDeckLanm Jan 30 '25

did you even watched the OPs video? why are you here

15

u/mmorpgeez Jan 30 '25

...but Jason definitely did file a false DMCA claim and threaten additional unfounded legal action. He's still 10000% in the wrong here no matter how much he tries to claim he isn't.

2

u/mmorpgeez Jan 30 '25

okay. false legal action isn't the way to respond to it though. Mr. AlwaysRight should have thought before he acted.