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Stolen Assets FROM SKYUI


Zanderat

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The original comments/thread were on the SKYUI SE mod page and were deleted. Which makes sense, as they were cluttering up the comments section. So, I will restart the conversation here.

 

In a nutshell, it was discovered that an UNREAL mod had stolen SKYUI for its own purposes. It is currently being sold for $14.99 USD. The conversation revolved around the idea that since actual physical assets weren't stolen (duh, it a different game), it was OK. My opinion is that look/design are still intellectual property and this mod clearly crossed a line.

 

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/rpg-user-interface-kit#
File a report here: https://marketplacehelp.epicgames.com/s/markeplace-case-form?language=en_US

 

1265-1590593334.jpg

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quote from epic support:


Hello ,
Thanks for contacting Marketplace Support.
We have previously reviewed this product for claims that it contains stolen content, and we could not find any indication that any content from SkyUI is being included in the product. The UI design is similar to the UI in the SkyUI mod, but based on our investigation, all of the assets in the product were created by the seller. If you have any examples of specific assets that appear to be stolen, please let me know and we will be glad to look into it.
Thanks,
Unreal Engine Marketplace
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I got the same response but replied back that the design/look are in fact intellectual property. Supposedly they are taking a second look.

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Sadly, this is not as simple as it seems.

 

If the actual original assets have not been reused, but merely replicated after a fashion (i.e. it's a "Look and Feel" proposition), then the applicable branch of intellectual property law would be either Trade Dress and/or Design Patents, the latter of which requires actual registration before the fact, and the former requires substantive justification in court. In either case you're looking at litigation, unless UEM takes a sympathetic view of their own volition.

 

To my untrained eye it seems clear that SkyUI SE has been ripped off. Proving it, however, then actually stopping it, is another matter entirely, when even the world's biggest tech giants struggle with this problem.

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Well, he's feeling it. Check out the comment he has left on everyone's posts over there.

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It may not technically be against the law, but it is a dirt bag move.

Take something that is free, modify the content just enough to beat the system, claim it as your own, and charge for it.

 

Heck, reading through the comments he even admits to it being “very similar indeed”.

Edited by Gunslinger808
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Ya. He knows Epic is reluctant to do anything and is acting that way.

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I'm ashamed to discover that the plagiarist in question is a fellow Scot.

 

http://blog.futureofmankind.co.uk/?page_id=2

 

Apparently, he's also a government employee.

 

I'm fairly certain that the Argyll and Bute Council would not be delighted to discover that their Senior Database Administrator was moonlighting as a games developer using plagiarised assets. I wonder what their staff conduct policy might have to say about that.

 

Maybe we should ask them.

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