Perhaps they are concerned that some will exploit the code in some shape or form. The reverse-engineered source code for the PC versions of Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City is back online today, months after it was originally posted and then quickly taken down due to a DMCA request from publisher Take-Two. Take-Two and Rockstar Games obviously disagree. If anything, they promote the GTA enterprise. They’re not commercial and shouldn’t impact sales significantly, since both games are nearly two decades old. So, if the project creators decide to challenge the removal, this matter could eventually end up in court.įair use or not, one might wonder how much damage these two projects were actually causing. In its DMCA notice, Take-Two notes that it has taken fair use into consideration. The EFF has a detailed write-up on reverse engineering that lays out the various challenges, showing how complicated the matter can be. However, publishing the code online is something different. Under US law, reverse-engineering can be seen as fair use, but this area is a bit of a minefield.įor example, people can circumvent DRM restrictions in order to reverse engineer a game for research or educational use. This means that GitHub will have to restore the code after two weeks, unless Take-Two files a lawsuit.Ī legal battle isn’t cheap so “aap” and his team will try to figure out the nature of the takedown claims first. In theory, “aap” and his team can file a DMCA counter-notice. The platform further notes that it “processed the takedown notice against the entire fork network.” GitHub also took the matter seriously and immediately removed the repositories. For now, however, he’s working on the assumption that it’s real. Many thanks What files should be taken down Please provide URLs for each file, or if the entire repository.
Please remove the repository or turn it private. The repository copied and reverse-engineered our code to build a private server. Project leader “aap” isn’t entirely convinced that this notice actually comes from the game company. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets. The use of our copyrighted content in these links are unauthorized and it should be removed immediately,” the notice reads. “The content in the links below consists of copyrighted materials owned by Take-Two. On Friday GitHub posted a DMCA takedown notice where Take-Two and Rockstar Games request the removal of the “Re3” and “reVC” repositories, as well as several forks. They hoped that the companies would not go after the projects when they were posted on GitHub either. While the project leader “aap” was happy with the positive reactions, it meant that Take-Two and its parent company Rockstar Games would notice as well.įor months, the team avoided getting an angry letter from the game publishers. The release got a lot of attention in the media when it came out, including an excellent report from Eurogamer.
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