“Legality” is a funny word when it comes to the Roblox universe. As we touched upon yesterday, the game itself isn’t a problem legally, but rather, the people who create games for it and attempt to “lure in people to play their titles” push the boundaries of what is and isn’t legal quite often. Sometimes, they simply think they can get away with it. Other times, they likely think there isn’t anything wrong with what they’re doing and that the companies who own the copyrights won’t come after them. Then, all of a sudden, their game gets shut down, and they have a problem.
Another situation that could happen is that someone else files a DMCA against you, and Roblox takes the game down because of the claim, no questions asked. It has happened in the past, and there was even a recent game that got taken down without it being clear why they were being taken down in the first place.
Thus, over on Market Screener, a lawyer decided to give some free “general info” on how to fight back if you think your game was DMCA’d unfairly. What you need to do is file a “DMCA Counter Notice.” Basically, you’re filing a backhand to the accuser and saying that this is a false claim and that your game should be put back up immediately.
The good news for all of you who need to do this is that filling out the form is incredibly easy. First, you just say who you are or what your game name/ID is. That way, they can easily look you up and see what game you made for them. Second, you give the former URL for the title. Third, you give your personal information so that the dev team truly knows it’s you. Finally, you sign it with your signature.
Once you do that, you can email it to the dev team, and things tend to go your way. How long it takes for your game to return to where it was will vary based on when you file, who is looking at your counter notice, etc.
There is one caveat, though. If you file this counter notice, the game could still be kept offline if the person who filed the original complaint decides to sue you. Thus, you should really be sure that you haven’t done anything illegal or aren’t infringing on a copyright because the last thing you want is to be sued by a big company.
