DDLC Developer doesn't like Gaia's reference items... At all

[aaleeyyee]

Zana Bonanza

aaleeyyee

'Nother thing that bothers me, for someone so gun ho about a website selling what is essentially fanart pixels of his character, he really hasn't said anything about all those people online selling fanart and merch is he? Kinda hypocritical if you ask me.
Also if I see anyone complaining about gaia copying games wearing reference items Im not taking them seriously anymore /s

I can guarantee you, Gaia has made more profit off their pixels than any one fan-artist has made of their physical work. It's a matter of scale. And it's just more...disingenuous, I guess you could say. I mean, the item even comes with a secret pose, that's a direct reference to the game, but in order to use it you have to buy another one of the same item.

And it's just so blatant. They could have put more on their own spin on it. Like, take the items we have based on Pokemon. A lot of them are outfits based on the Pokemon, and it's obvious what it is, but there's also some creativity there. They made something inspired by but not wholly taken from the game.

Course, then you got items that are basically the Pokemon themselves, and that's a little more sketchy. Like, there's a item that's just straight up Jigglypuff, except her ears are round and she has a donut. I believe this is a usermade item and I don't blame them at all, but honestly, Gaia shouldn't have greenlit that--or sold it for money, at least. If Nintendo cared enough, I'm pretty sure they would win that lawsuit. Fortunately for Gaia, Pokemon's so big and has enough money that going after minor bootlegs like this is insignificant to them. But that doesn't make it right.

But is it really so blatant? I mean besides the hair color it could easily be an entirely different character, most of the major details are changed enough to make it different. The hair's different, the bow's different, skirt and jacket too. The fact that you need to own more than one copy of it to even remotely make it look similar is another big fact too. Not many people would own more than one copy.

[oh its niamhy]

i think its less the rip off that hes upset about but the fact gaia is trying to make a profit off it

if gaia just made the item out of appreciation for the game, then from an outsiders point of view, they shouldnt charge people for it

[estupe]

why does everyone keep saying it was unprofessional of him to complain on twitter as if gaia didn't do anything unprofessional here

like, does it invalidate his grievances, or are we just trying to counter blame?

[Hassli]

Well, dude should lawyer up if he’s really mad.

[Angels Alibi]

estupe

gaia_moon gaia_sakura because it's the only fall back a lot of people seem to have when they don't have any over way to invalidate someone's actions and prove their own opinions right
"You're being childish" "You're not acting like an adult" ect
I'm not saying what he did was necessarily right but in the heat of the moment people don't always think clearly. And if he's not exactly used to this kinda thing maybe he didn't think to take a 'more professional' route gaia_sakura gaia_moon

[digirap]

Hassli

Well, dude should lawyer up if he’s really mad.

Hassli don't encourage him to lose money lmao.

[Niko Narshe]

estupe

why does everyone keep saying it was unprofessional of him to complain on twitter as if gaia didn't do anything unprofessional here

like, does it invalidate his grievances, or are we just trying to counter blame?

Because he's a hypocrite. I want to see him go after fan merch artists who mass sell on redbubble and esty.

[estupe]

Actually Narshe

estupe

why does everyone keep saying it was unprofessional of him to complain on twitter as if gaia didn't do anything unprofessional here

like, does it invalidate his grievances, or are we just trying to counter blame?

Because he's a hypocrite. I want to see him go after fan merch artists who mass sell on redbubble and esty.

it just seems like a lot of policing his response to me, and i don't see how it has much to do with the issue of gaia copying his stuff. you don't have to like the guy

there may be some merit to arguing that he needs to legally pursue all violations of his copyright if he's going to pursue this (and we don't know if he plans to so it's all hypothetical?), but most of the people in this thread don't seem to be making that argument, they're just calling names

[Hassli]

Aerachnais

Hassli

Well, dude should lawyer up if he’s really mad.

Hassli don't encourage him to lose money lmao.

Do you think he would lose? Well, maybe not then haha

[Niko Narshe]

estupe

Because he is upset that Gaia sold an item mock-up that was cosplaying 'his design' (when a yandere school girl in a school uniform is highly generic but we will not get into that) but he's not policing the blatant stealing of his work with people who are selling merch in mass production (i.e Redbubble) with fanart or directly using the art from the game. Not to mention Just Me was sold as an LI, that's not mass production. It was sold for a limited time and then it was gone. Of course recolors exist but still. LI.

Never said I didn't like Dan. I'm actually a small fan of DDLC. I'm just very annoyed about Dan's response, on Twitter no less. It brought on a lot of people who don't know what they are talking about and throwing claims that make no sense. Do I understand he's upset? Yes. I just don't like the way he went about this and I also want him to step up and take action against mass produced fan merch too if he's gonna bark at Gaia for it. Hypocritical, as stated before. But yeah, is what it is.

[digirap]

Hassli

Aerachnais

Hassli

Well, dude should lawyer up if he’s really mad.

Hassli don't encourage him to lose money lmao.

Do you think he would lose? Well, maybe not then haha

I was curious so I spoke to a few lawyers, one being a copyright attorney, and a DA/ADA -- they all generally said that it would be an expensive way to say, "your item that is different than my character enough to count for parody, and abides by my IP restrictions/law made me upset," directly to a Gaia rep/whoever chooses to show.

He wouldn't get anything, really.

[digirap]

Actually Narshe

estupe

Because he is upset that Gaia sold an item mock-up that was cosplaying 'his design' (when a yandere school girl in a school uniform is highly generic but we will not get into that) but he's not policing the blatant stealing of his work with people who are selling merch in mass production (i.e Redbubble) with fanart or directly using the art from the game. Not to mention Just Me was sold as an LI, that's not mass production. It was sold for a limited time and then it was gone. Of course recolors exist but still. LI.

Never said I didn't like Dan. I'm actually a small fan of DDLC. I'm just very annoyed about Dan's response, on Twitter no less. It brought on a lot of people who don't know what they are talking about and throwing claims that make no sense. Do I understand he's upset? Yes. I just don't like the way he went about this and I also want him to step up and take action against mass produced fan merch too if he's gonna bark at Gaia for it. Hypocritical, as stated before. But yeah, is what it is.

It's SO weird that Gaia's sale abides by his preferences with his IP use, "rules," and he decides to say something, but doesn't go after the example he made for, "don't sell on mass production sites," -- RedBubble! WTF? That is SO confusing.

[scullylam]

emotion_facepalm


also touching back to mention of 'queen of dorks'. anyone else realize that after all that drama she has become super popular and rich with her pusheen cat. so really, gaia can be free advertising to these creators than merely being labeled as 'stealing' creations. just a thought.

[an81angel]

I can see both sides of this issue. It's hard to say one side is right and the other is wrong. The lines are not that clearly defined.

However, I think in Gaia's best interest, it would be better to not place so many "sigularly complete cosplay items" in one grouping. It would have been better on Gaia's part to seperate things more into various other item sets. That way it looks more hapen stance that a cosplay can be created rather than risk copyright infringement. Selling five seperate items that each have 1 item pertaining to a cosplay. let the true fans of that cosplay find it and peice it together, rather than offering a complete set.

To be fair though, I don't see see much resemblance to the character in question. I don't know anything about the game other than what has been provided in this thread. Nothing about this specific item set seems as blatant a rip off as the BLEACH, Sailor Moon, Naruto, KingdomHearts, or FinalFantasy rip offs we have littering the marketplace.

As far as legal actions go. He could get the item removed from the site. That's about it. The legal cost on both ends to try and get monetary restitutions paid over it would not be worth it.

I hope that someone in this guys inner circle is filling him in on the culture that is avatar creations. Fans want to have a way to express their love for an item. Half of the people on this site portray fan made representations of their favorite characters. Company's as big as X-Box have avatar creators. And you can create cosplay versions of certain well known pop culture characters in there as well.

What this guy is really miffed about is that he didn't get asked permission beforehand by gaia. He expects to hold the rights to any and all portrayals of his creations. If he takes action against GAIA, he would then have to take action against all Fans that sell artwork at comic conventions etc.

In my opinion, going to Twiter over this is more his way of saying to fans that he doesn't like cosplayers, or fanfiction. If Stephanie Meyer couldn't stop 50 Shades of Grey this guy probably wont be able to stop GAIA's cosplay.

[Chibi Halo]

estupe

why does everyone keep saying it was unprofessional of him to complain on twitter as if gaia didn't do anything unprofessional here

like, does it invalidate his grievances, or are we just trying to counter blame?

Because right now it makes it look like he’s complaining just to complain and not really interested in finding a solution that would satisfy him. It also raises questions as to whether or not he actually holds a formal copyright on the designs for the game characters and the game itself. Because if he does not, which I’m beginning to think he doesn’t, he can not get anything until he does. He can’t get profits from the Redbubble shops, he can’t get profits from the other t-shirt shops selling direct from the game rips (not fan art) of the characters on a shirt. He can’t even get the profits of the sale of the Gaia items.

He would have to first apply online for a formal copyright for everything related to his game and then wait the two to three months it takes to get it. Then, he has to prove his formal copyright came after the infringement and his lawyer and Gaia’s lawyer would work out a deal to award him the item profits from the initial sale. If he had a formal copyright before the game came out then he has to prove that and then he can sue for damages if he’s really that interested in going that route. However, when you look at the fan responses it’s pretty obvious he’s easily swayed by the people who used to be on Gaia and still believe the last CEO is running things and Gaia won’t even give him the time of day. It’s a matter of looking professional versus trying to start up a Twitter war just for the free publicity. If he had just added to that tweet that he was in contact with Gaia people wouldn’t be so critical of him.