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Copyright law exists so that creators of all kinds can enjoy the fruits of their labor. But what if a piece of software, which appears to violate the DMCA anti-circumvention provisions to allow cheating on Genshin Impact, is decrypted by a third party and distributed online for free? Apparently the first logical step for the creators is to claim violations of the DMCA anti-circumvention provisions.
In recent years, a number of high-profile lawsuits have been filed against individuals and groups creating cheat software for video games.
Companies such as Bungie, Riot Games, and Take-Two have taken cheaters to court for undermining their gaming environments and business models, claiming that these tools violate the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA.
Gator cheats, for example, agreed to pay Riot and Bungie $ 2 million to settle their case, but despite the risks, many cheat makers and vendors have continued their work independently, resulting in more demands, most of which are filed in the US.
But what if you are a rogue software maker and it bothers you that someone is hacking your work? It turns out that the DMCA can be quite effective in combating that threat as well.
Cheat Maker launches Genshin XYZ
UnKnoWnCheaTs.me is a discussion forum dedicated to hacking and cheating in multiplayer games. It claims to be the oldest such forum on the Internet and stresses that it does not promote the illegal use of software.
In mid-December a new release appeared on the forum titled 'Genshin XYZ', a software that works with an open world action RPG. Genshin impact. Despite a development and marketing budget of over $ 100 million, Genshin Impact is free to play, but it is monetized through gacha game mechanics.
The broad feature range Genshin's XYZ seems designed to undermine that monetization, as the tool allows players to cheat to progress. This is the kind of behavior that has attracted copyright infringement lawsuits in the past, but in this case, the creators of Genshin XYZ are using copyright law to prevent piracy of their product.
Cheat Maker Targets 'Cracker' Software
When the Genshin XYZ team made their last release in December, they announced that, unlike their previous releases, this cheat tool would come with a "special charger" that would help players use the product. However, it appears that someone removed this item and released a 'cracked' version of the cheat tool on Github along with their own uploader.
This clearly did not sit well with the Genshin XYZ team who responded with a DMCA takedown notice claiming that the cracker was infringing their intellectual property rights.
DMCA Anti-Circumvention Provisions
"GenshinXYZ / GenshinPublic is our software illegally cracked and distributed by the user in question [sic]โReads a DMCA takedown notice posted on Github.
โThe original software is a DLL that we publish inside a DLL loader programmed by us in C # with VMProtection. You should prevent third parties from redistributing and selling the DLL as their own. "
Interestingly, the ad claims that the cracked version of the cheat tool violates the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA.
โThey have cracked the C # loader to get the DLL. Then they built the DLL in their own loader, which they now distribute as 'GenshinPublic'. The repository is a crack and an illegal load on our software and should be removed, "said the warning adds.
Github analysis results at Takedown
The fact that the creators of a scam that almost certainly violates the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA tried to remove a copy based on the same law is novel and rather ironic, to say the least. However, Github was not convinced that the 'pirate' crack committed any crime in this regard.
"While GitHub did not find sufficient information to determine a valid claim against circumvention, we determined that this removal notice contains other valid copyright claims," โโtheir note reads.
As a result, Github agreed to the removal request on broader grounds of copyright infringement and disabled the repository, which likely satisfied the cheat creators.
However, it is interesting to note that people who seem happy to violate the DMCA, on the one hand, are also prepared to seek redress using the same law on the other.
