What about an album using someone’s rain sounds being removed from youtube 
. I also k now of services who apparently use bots to scan the web for websites using photos of people before sending letters of damage claims. Anyone can send such a letter. If someone even thinks there is money to be made expect to be sued over anything. You don’t get a warning when your product is up and published, “the damage is done”.
DMCA are not charges, nor lawsuits, so as I say you only have to change that part. Also, the Op talks about games, not about marketplace assets. Do you know of a sued video game company that has been sued for using illegal assets?
You can re-upload the video if you change it or even youtube has tools to lower the audio in those sections.
As I say, if it happens to you, you will only have to change it, so there is not much to worry about.
This seems more like an excuse to procrastinate so as not to finish the game hahahaha
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Title is Sales model against game and asset piracy. . I personally know a modders group who used a single asset from COD and got in trouble. Sued? no idea. They had to reupload a pack without the asset. But that is not the point, anyone can at any time claim you damaged them in any way. I thought it was this thread someone posted another example that COD used Humvees without permission and got in legal trouble after years. Anyhow, there’s little point discussing how likely something is to happen if given enough time it’s going to happen. And it is going to happen if you are the unlikely case to get rich from a game or asset because those people smell money from half the world away.
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Hey look another one Indie dev accused of using stolen FromSoftware animations removes them, warns others against trusting marketplace assets | PC Gamer
Maybe the issue being plastered in PCGamer will get them to actually do something
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There EPIC replied exactly with the email I posted a few posts ago. While this post started initially as a question on what method / sales model would protect us from having our assets and games stolen, we are also looking at a marketplace which sells us pirated content. What a twist. Us not being pirates, we even pay for that! If EPIC doesn’t make some changes to protect us, we need a new marketplace, one which does. I am definitely considering setting up a tiny webshop for my plugins now.
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Another read, about the ongoing situation of companies training their AIs on art without compensation to the artist, to then sell generated art based on what it trained on.
ArtStation - Epics possible long term plans for AI generated 3D.
This will never work and that’s why autorities do not spend much time and ressources to track any people who watch movies or download pirated games. What should they do put 100 000’s of people to jail when they can’t pay the fines ? Do you know what it costs to get a single person in prison per day ? Do you know the amount of work force needed to fine a single person make all the paperwork and a court case for that ? If a country let’s say of 50 million pc users and only 10% of them pirate stuff - that means they will need a huge manpower to deal with all the bureaucracy to fine 5 million people and there would not be any jail capacity to accomodate even 10% of those 5 million which is 500k people. Good luck with that and the cost to pay for any of those in jail will be extremly high on top of that… Which it will acctually save the state a LOT of money if they do not get any of them in jail lol…
“The report estimates that jailing a defendant for one day costs around $85, though that figure can fluctuate wildly depending on the facility. In New York City’s Rikers Island detention center, for example, taxpayers foot a bill of more than $450 a day per inmate. That’s a total of more than $167,000 per year”
There are way more important stuff for autorities then waste any time or ressources on people watching a movie or play a pirated game.
People are put in jail for less though. It’s paid from tax money, no idea if they care. Still I agree we should not be paying for that. There are plenty of other and in my opinion much better alternatives. You don’t need money to be a resource. People can be put to work. I’m not going to come up with a solution to all problems here but think of it another way, what would happen if all of sudden there is an increase of 40.000% in supermarket raids? I find that comparable to what is happening in software theft, where it’s already at that rate. People rush in to steal your sh*t then run out of the store, except they get away with it. Perhaps not game dev but software development is one of the most valuable things we can be doing right now for the development and survival of our species. Why not treat it like that? Last thing we need is people quitting because of the state of the environment.
Well the supermarkt is in a local area where only a very limited amount of people access it at the same time. And in fact there will be an 40000% raid increase (or more) in a supermarkt if you would open this supermarkt to the whole world to suddenly start shopping in it. Just like when you put a game for sale for the whole world to access with a simple internet connection. Now take this example with the supermarkt and imagine what would happen if suddenly 3 billion people or so start shopping in it at the same time… You wouldn’t be able to pay any security to stop those 3 billion people from stealing.
Game dev has nothing to do with both of this things. If you are developing “one of the most valuable” software for humanity first - you wouldn’t put that for sale on some random platform and second you will have a highly specialized security to guard it
Games on the other hand are roughly scince at least the 80’s on the market and you are not the first one thinking how to prevent piracy. There are many big companies and single people thinking for a long time about this topic. And as it seems nobody could completely solve this issue. But they have found many smaller sollutions and you most probably know them awready. They all have up and downsides like making the game online only or put some DRM. If there was a simpler solution there would be awready someone come up with a good one. But after so many years as it seems noone found a perfect one. And you know the downsides when putting DRM or other mesurments.
“Denuvo is one way game makers can deter piracy and boost sales. But it isn’t without controversy — Denuvo is one of the most disliked anti-piracy solutions out there…Denuvo has been known to hurt game performance, making the gaming experience worse.”
Afcourse if you are really dedicated you may even be the first one to come up with a good solution.
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I am aware of these methods, they indeed come with downsides. In the end everything can be hacked as well, even if we only store the data on servers. Even if the server isn’t hacked, one can be recreated by reverse engineering.
To make it more difficult, it’s the way people think that needs to change globally. Many posts on Reddit about this point this out, people even admit to theft with no consequence. Law only works if it is enforced and if people are aware that they can’t get away something. There’s that, there’s “being human” doing what we do because of what we are and don’t know better, or we do know and abuse it consciously. All factors will differ per country… And must be managed globally.
It sounds impossible but the source of the evil is the way humans think and it will always be. I believe education adapted to modern times might improve a lot, I can’t help but go offtopic from the original topic. It’s just worth noting. First off, for some reason schools avoid psychology, people don’t know what makes them do what they do, they can’t see through it. I believe that if we can tell eating pork makes you end up in a bad situation (religion) and make that work globally, we can do the same for software theft. Strangely, (scan Reddit for a bit) people make up all kinds of excuses why it is right to steal software. “They make millions anyway”, “I buy it if I like it (Steam refunds exist now people)” “Torrent is easier to download (not a valid excuse, but a market service problem)” “I don’t like the devs (attitude, political reasons, culture)”. We don’t do that in physical stores, perhaps because the sense of threat is too big (cameras). Perhaps because we don’t see other people steal visibly. It will mostly be a psychology question. How can we avoid it at the source, just like we avoid people from doing other things? To what point is this possible by education or enforcement? At what point sh*t hits the fan (we need anti piracy methods within the software)? Surely we don’t pack our apples with poison just in case it’s stolen, just like we shouldn’t have to pack apps with anti-piracy solutions which harm customers.
It’s in the numbers. Comparing apples to pears, if one figures he can steal a kilogram of pears because the weight is not checked, he will move on to apples. If one sees someone do it, others follow. It’s just like arriving late at work. If one can do it another one can. Then the whole department suddenly can. It’s an attitude that must be kept to a minimum. I hate having to say it, but at some point you get that customer with “China copied my store, what do I do?” and at that point (at least in my country) we already linked China to such events. From what I read on the web it could be that many businesses there are OK with copying in ways that we see as a crime. Perhaps they get away with it, or they are unaware, or there is a cultural difference which makes this happen. We are in a global conflict where differences and cooperation must be explored as well. It’s a chaotic, competitive nightmare which is mostly entirely pointless.
It’s like paying 5000% to reduce risk of a product’s worth. If I have to believe some of my analytics about 1200 games a month are released on steam of which most make less than 5000$ over their entire lifetime (VG Insights). It’s like shipping 1$ on a truck surrounded by artillery.
I’m not saying “it’s not worth it”, it’s still more likely to make you money than the lottery and if you like messing around with maths, algorithms, design or whatever this can be FUN but it is what it is. The topic originally focused on sales models. There are many ways to do what you like and sell. There just doesn’t seem to be a bulletproof version to at least pay for the truck to ship the dollar with on the 50% group who wants to buy a bread for months of work. If you happen to be part of the top 4% and make as a solo dev as much as a 1000+ man studio on a COD game or something then sure, you can pay for the artillery as well.
Ugh… people target the top 4% as “they have enough money anyway”, sometimes having to support thousands of people, not just one lucky dev with a mansion (even then theft is theft but this is the reasoning you see), but also the other 96 even though things take so much time and knowledge to make. Maddening.
Sorry for this turning into a rant btw. I can do little but to put my thoughts on here and see where it goes. Like you said it’s a topic explored by many.
The actual worth of the product (not the sales price) is debatable… It depends on quality but if you are one of a million to spend a week on reinventing the wheel implementing algorithms, closed source, for entertainment purposes which will give someone joy for a few hours, then no that is not going to move humanity forward. But the same applies for all software. It’s execution from start to end results. Even if the results differ from expectations a lot of time is lost, sometimes we do what we need to do, but stealing a game can’t be that.
I was thinking of ways to work with those minds, psychology.
There’s the bad way, big companies intentionally breaking pirated games like Batman, Mirrors Edge leading to tons of negative results as people thought they ran into a bug “Why can’t I jump on this board” because companies intentionally and literally made them walk the plank.
There’s another way, direct messages to pirates. In one way or another, be it written text or putting pirate hats onto characters visible during streaming. Even very personal messages explaining why devs need to eat. Would reasoning have an effect? Empathy?
Just now I thought, why don’t we use the ad system? We can hook into torrent downloads, log all IPs who join the leech club, then push ads to those IPs to make people realize what they are doing. Might shape the world a bit.
Have you encountered something like that? or have an idea of implementing such thing in a game? while I find videos about solo devs doing this I find 0 statistics on how this affected sales, obviously because it is hard to track who pirated then bought. I don’t know of a large scale test.
I like the Batman one
I think they deserve everything they get. It would be cool to be able to format their hard drive, frankly, while keeping a loading widget on the screen… 
The problem is, you have to sure it’s pirated.
I understand that you as a victim would want to see the world burn, at least theirs. The thing is that some methods are out of the question unless they are legalized. Fun thing, law…
Interesting topic. A lot has been covered already. But just curious has anyone ever gone down other roads, or maybe tried some other less obvious biz models (without resorting to some of the more hated tactics above). If so, what other paths are there to try? 
The VGinsights stats are bleak (4 out of 5 games go nowhere). That number might even be higher as much as 93%, in places where cost of living is worse (80% + 5% + 8%).
Game dev is so much fun though (the actual creative dev part). It seems a pity to give up. But the biz side is such a turn off. Has anyone ever tried just giving their game away for free and showing sponsorship or a logo, and raising some money that way? Wanted to approach some NGO / Charities a while back (to give games away for 100% free). But even there, the more you learn sometimes its a turn off (ongoing scandals / insane CEO pay). 
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As an advertisement? In the US money generated from ads looks somewhat good, except we’re talking euros on thousands of 30 second ads. I made a huge mod for the stalker series RoadToTheNorth which does accept donations but I don’t ask for them and I don’t own rights to the stalker series. Of course I ended up paying for my own mod server costs, backups, hardware, web hosting. If you want to get money you have to actively look for it and it must be allowed. Looking at it that way, people showing their butts earn more in general -_- that’s where the business side is required to play it smart, otherwise there simply won’t be any money.
Yes because it is an entirely different, separate side. The business does not necessarily need the product, but the product needs the business.
There are plenty, I’m just going to dump a list from my dutch research here since it’s on topic. Blame google translate for anything weird. Some models reduce risk of piracy somewhat but you can review them below.
7.1 Hourly invoice
You pass on your hours worked to the customer. This revenue model is mainly used by entrepreneurs in the service sector. Insight into your fixed and variable costs helps you calculate the right rate.
7.2 Transaction Model or Sale of Goods
The customer pays you per purchased product. Consider, for example, market trading. This is the best known and simplest model. Building a long-term relationship with the customer, such as with the subscription model or service model, can be difficult with this model.
7.3 Free Model or Freemium
For example, you provide software or a service to users without them paying for it. Online search engines, social media channels, and weather forecasting apps are well-known examples of a freemium. You then let your customers pay for a more extensive version or earn money by making advertising space available.
7.4 Service Model
You sell your product or service for a not too high amount and your turnover mainly comes from service, repair or maintenance. This model is especially popular with the manufacturing industry, IT companies and the construction and installation industry. The advantages are a stable turnover and sustainable customer relationships.
7.5 Bait model
You sell your product for a relatively low price and then earn money by selling suitable supplies. Well-known examples are: coffee makers, razor blades and printers.
7.6 Subscription Model
The customer pays a fixed amount and in return gets access to your product or service. When you think of the subscription model, you quickly think of magazines, streaming services and gyms, but underwear and meal boxes also lend themselves perfectly to this model. A major advantage of the subscription model is that customers usually pay in advance. As a result, you already know what your turnover is for a certain period.
7.7 Advertising Model
With this model, you earn not so much from the sale of your product or service, but mainly from advertising revenue. Think of magazines and websites.
7.8 Online Platform Model
Supply and demand meet on your app or website. Think of platforms for jobs or a marketplace for used clothing. You earn money through an agreed amount or percentage that you receive upon registration or per transaction.
7.9 Product-as-a-service (PAAS)
You do not sell a product, but the services and their use. You do this, for example, through leasing, deposits and sharing. More and more products are offered as a service. The aim is to ensure that products, raw materials and residual materials retain their value.
7.10 Personalization
You make custom products and add emotional value. Think of clothing, glasses and sneakers. You can distinguish yourself from competitors in creativity, quality, speed and price.
7.11 User designed model
Customers put together their own product on your website or design a product themselves, using your software. For example photo books or wallpaper.
7.12 Consignment
You sell your products through another entrepreneur. This model is common in the art trade. The artworks remain your property until they are sold. In exchange for exhibiting your artwork, the gallery receives a percentage of the sale or a fixed amount per product sold.
7.13 Consumption model
The more someone uses, the higher the bill. Consider, for example, cloud services where users pay for the amount of storage they think they need.
7.14 Production Model
You produce something on behalf of the customer, so custom work. For example, a machine for a food manufacturer. With this model, make sure that the customers expectations and what you can deliver match well.
7.15 Drop Shipping
You sell products via an online marketplace, social media channel or your own webshop. You place orders directly to the supplier and have the goods delivered directly to the customer. So you dont have to keep stock and set up a logistics process yourself.
7.16 Webshop
You sell products through your own online store. This is the most famous online revenue model. Advantages: you can reach a larger target group than with a physical store and you can expand your range more easily.
7.17 Rental Model
You offer products that customers can rent. Think of cars, machines or tools. The items remain your property, which means that you can offer the same product over and over again. Do take into account costs for maintenance, insurance and storage.
7.18 Affiliate Marketing
You promote products or services of other companies on your website. Will there be a customer contact or purchase? Then you will receive a percentage or agreed amount.
7.19 Premium
The user pays a one-off amount to gain access to your online product. This model works well when demand is high and competition is low. Think of commonly used software licenses and popular games.
7.20 License Model
You rent the property rights of your product to other companies. With your permission and against payment, they may, for example, print mugs and T-shirts with your logo.
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Side note, this forum is falling apart. Attempting to view your profile results in infinite looping server requests. Good I didn’t get blacklisted for longer than a minute :')
.Discussing the possibility of reducing piracy as a result of being able to choose your customers, instead of putting your product out there for anyone to buy. A business to business approach or at least being able to do business only with ones you desire to do business with (think of public reputation, business size, contract varations etc.). Linking the discussion on the FAB Marketplace topic.
Can’t really compare hardware and software piracy together (TV vs TV show)
speaking for games here (not assets/tools), truth be told if there is no emotional attachment, piracy will be no.1 option
games like COD and sports games are basically Nike shoes the kool kids want to wear, so unless you’re Nike shoes then you’ll want to appeal to the labor side of things.
some games use the Extras tab on the menu to show players the behind the scenes stuff and create that emotional attachment (pls no cringe stuff)
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Interesting idea! I’ve seen this type of media in credits and in-game developer comments as well.