$ Paid Urgent Request

[Jeeves]

This thread has been equally entertaining on TWHL. For those interested, the League of Legends EULA has just been quoted.

...

Any use of the Software in violation of the license limitations set forth below is an unauthorized use of the Software outside of the license granted to you in Section I, and will be regarded as an infringement of the copyrights Riot Games holds in and to the Software and the Game. You agree that you will not, under any circumstances:

...

B. Copy, photocopy, reproduce, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, derive source code from, or disassemble, in whole or in part, the Software or the Game, or create derivative works based on the Game, except that you are authorized to (i) make one (1) copy of the Software and the Documentation for personal archival purposes only; and (ii) use third party image and video capture software to capture the output of the Software as audio, video and/or still image files solely for personal, not for profit use pursuant to the Terms of Use and any applicable Riot Games policies pertaining to audio or video creation;

C. Modify or cause to be modified any files that are part of the Software in any way not expressly authorized by Riot Games;

...

It is entirely unambiguous that, without permission:
- Riot Games specifically does not approve modification, decompilation or reverse engineering of game files
- They also specifically do not approve of capturing video from the game and using it for profit

The legal status of a EULA is not something that I am interested or qualified in debating, but it is the closest thing to a legal contract that a developer has with their users. If you are certain that Riot Games loves machinima then you should have no problems getting approval. I don't know much about what being a producer entails but it seems that getting said approval would be your job.

- Riot Games specifically does not approve modification, decompilation or reverse engineering of game files

@OP : I think that offering any type of remuneration to break this somewhat vague rule -- is enough to get you in a lot of trouble.
If you are genuinely employed by Machinima in some capacity(I, probably like many here, believe you've exaggerated your own importance in an attempt to sound credible. No offence) I strongly advise you to delete all the posts you've made about ripping content, and for your own wellbeing, and the wellbeing of others : don't profess to having an intimate knowledge of that which may, or may not, pertain to IP/copyright law; Unless you're a lawyer, you have no business interpreting the law.

[smashbits]

Riot is more than aware that Machinima has already broken every single one of those agreements for profit. We still have a very positive relationship with them.

Jeeves,
Thanks for being concerned about me. I appreciate the care you are giving for another one of these “request guys.” Although, I’m not sure how I have exaggerated my “importance.” I’m assuming you have not read all of my posts (there are quite a bit I admit). In previous posts I mentioned I was an unproven producer. I’m at the bottom of the ladder. I have not spoken with authority but with knowledge/experience.

Regardless, it will always be each of our businesses to interpret the law. Just because we are not lawyers does not mean we don’t interpret law whatsoever. You may not agree with my interpretation but your own view is equally an interpretation.

[Jeeves]

Sorry for misinterpreting your position, I got confused by some management jingo, thus I assumed you were some type of "Yes man", apologies.

You've stated that you don't have permission to use this specific content, and that you don't have a contact within Riot but that there is some relationship "up top" . I say this with all due respect, have you ever heard of the term "Snipe Hunt"?.

[Smurftyours]

In a nutshell, this guy wants us to break the law because it gets broken all the time and supposedly no one really cares.

Don't worry though, $400 goes a long way in lawyers fees if you get caught!

[smashbits]

Jeeves, I am familiar with the term “Snipe Hunt” but I cannot think of how you could possibly use that term in this situation. Could you explain? Thanks.

[smashbits]

Smurft,

Not quite. I have explained the legal aspects of fair use and the court’s interpretation of law but nobody has really responded to them. Repeating, “it’s illegal” and “it’s stealing” just repeats an argument which to this point has no basis because no court system has ever declared this as illegal or stealing.

What I am looking for is somebody that would say, “I will do this for you if you can prove (a) its okay, (b) you have permission, or (3) it will be untraceable.” So far, I have spent days on here and I don’t even know if anybody can do this.

I am enjoying the conversation with you all but I am here to do a job.

[Smurftyours]

As already stated here and elsewhere, its in direct violation of the EULA and you have refused to state that you have gotten explicit permission from Riot games in order to use their content. Regardless of the lack of permission, I think it would be very unlikely that someone would get into any trouble over the matter however, there is always the possibility that they would pursue justification against the party who committed the tortious behavior and given your relatively unknown reputation, I wouldn't really trust you to preserve the anonymity of the freelance artist in such a scenario.

Were not arguing that its very risky to accept work like this (most likely nothing would occur), we are just stating that its highly unethical.

Lastly, you're a fucking partner with machinima not an employee. Stop acting like they'll give two shits not to throw you under the bus the second a legal dispute shows up.

[smashbits]

Smurft,

I am not trying to make you angry. I have no intention of making you mad. I’m sorry; my tone must have been aggressive. We can have a friendly disagreement here.

You still have not said anything about fair use or mentioned specific court cases and until you do, you are not responding to my argument. Instead you are just restating what I have already responded too.

If you think you could do this project – a contract can be used to help with my “relatively unknown reputation.” A contract could give me very harsh punishments for breaking your trust and/or giving your identity. A contract could declare that I have full legal responsibility in the case of a lawsuit.

Whether I am an employee or a partner, I have no idea whether Machinima would abandon me or not if some lawsuit over my material ever occurred some day. I don’t think I have communicated I have total absolute trust in the company. However, I have said that it would never come down to that. Again, the worst possible case scenario would be the taking down of the youtube videos.

[Smurftyours]

Using supposed fair use as a device to enable negligent infringement of copyrights is a pretty great idea if you ask me. If you've got the time to read the following document, it outlines much of the fair use doctrine and how its applied to machinima. Lots of case references and in depth analysis of what would constitute violation of fair use in the context of machinimation.

To be honest, I would say you are probably in more danger for using copyrighted characters as opposed to game assets. Legality of the matter put aside, its pretty pathetic that you try to justify you're incitement of unethical behavior for personal gain.

[Mehis]

You came to the wrong place. People here don't really like ripping content from other games.

There's a specific forum for this called Facepunch. As machinima maker, this is your #1 place to ask and find ripped content.

Lock please. It's going to be another it's ethical cuz herp and not cuz derp oh wait, it already is

[Jeeves]

By "snipe hunt" I was referring to your seemingly ambiguous relationship with Machinima and/or Riot, "there is a strong relationship up top", "I don't have an actual contact in Riot, but will get one if this is successful", "They want this made" "They haven't given me permission to use this exact content", See what I'm getting at?.

...Regardless of the lack of permission, I think it would be very unlikely that someone would get into any trouble over the matter however, there is always the possibility that they would pursue justification against the party who committed the tortious behavior and given your relatively unknown reputation, I wouldn't really trust you to preserve the anonymity of the freelance artist in such a scenario.

Were not arguing that its very risky to accept work like this (most likely nothing would occur), we are just stating that its highly unethical.

Lastly, you're a fucking partner with machinima not an employee. Stop acting like they'll give two shits not to throw you under the bus the second a legal dispute shows up.

^this.

There are probably at least a half dozen people on interlopers who could do what your asking, with ease, and If they haven't PM'd you yet it aint gonna happen. If you still plan on going ahead with this, again consider deleting your threads to protect whatever poor fool believes your "interpretation" of the law; Interpretations are like assholes, everybodys got one, even lawyers -- who simultaneously have assholes and are assholes... get it?

[smashbits]

To be honest, I would say you are probably in more danger for using copyrighted characters as opposed to game assets.

Absolutely correct Smurft. That’s a good point. The fair use of those characters is A LOT more legally defined then the fair use of game assets. Most (almost all) of the creative entertainment using characters could put us in a lot of trouble if Machinima did not have positive relationships. If you were to push this point, you would have a lot more support for your argument.

That is also a very important resource that you found. It should be known well by anybody that goes into my feld.

It is interesting that you are trying to take a moral high ground. So it’s NOT ethical to use assets somebody doesn’t care I use and has even given indirect permission to use but it IS ethical for you to be an absolute ass to for no apparent reason whatsoever? Again, I came here to receive friendly help - there is no reason for you to continue to use that tone.

[smashbits]

Mehis,

Thanks a lot for the forum link. I actually started at facepunch for this request. I didn’t have much luck.

[smashbits]

Jeeves,

I understand your point now but that is not exactly the use for “snipe hunt” I am familiar with.

If somebody wanted to do this job for me and wanted me to delete this message board to protect them – I would have no problem doing so. Additionally, if somebody asked me because they were embarrassed by how much of an ass they seemed to be for no reason – I would delete it to save face for them as well. There has been a couple.

I would take an informed “interpretation” of the law over a popular one any day. It seems Smurft is the only one here attempting to actually discuss the legal ramifications of my defense.

[Jeeves]

Yo Gary, where you at?.