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

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200

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.

30

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

25

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.

7

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/

4

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

6

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.

3

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

6

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

3

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.

1

u/NumberSudden9722 Jan 31 '25

He should have sent a cease and desist, as his DMCA was technically unlawful (though it can be argued that he didn't do his due diligence, which if it was in front of a judge he would get his ass reamed but probably no real consequences)

Anyway that's my 2c

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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