Right now it's at Xvid q/6. I'll post a q/1 version once the editing is final. What is the first "flag" at 0:04? Tell me what that does, then I'll tell you what THIS VIDEO WILL BE FLAGGED is supposed to mean.
It's out. You've got PM. The rest can catch it on AOL or YouTube while it lasts. EDIT: As of 13:37 US Eastern Daylight Time, it's up on replaycentral.tv, albeit with severe audio/video sync issues.
They kinda do over at nicovideo already. nicovideo supports user comments overlayed over the video, and they're commenting what happens.
Crowd-sourced Japanese subtitles have one weakness: The video's legal arguments are based on the copyright law of the United States as annotated by the U.S. Copyright Office, not the copyright law of Japan. But then the video is about actions taken against users of YouTube, and YouTube is on U.S. soil anyway.
Actually, Arika may in fact have a case under Japan law. Whether this applies outside of japan is another matter video games can be protected with design rights. If you look theough japanese copyright cases with regards to cloned video games, you will see references to designs. If the cloned game is a thing of beauty, and could be confused with the original, it may infringe on the registered design rights. Making ithis decision is not the easiest thing in the world, and often it takes a while to get through the courts, but the intent is clear. If you make a video game that is sufficiently marketable, original, and creative, you can register the design and prevent people from cloning it for 15 years. Even if the graphics, sound, and code are not copied, if you duplicate the gameplay exactly, the protected design is used, and that is a violation. However, one that is merely inspired by, but not the same (witness the many different variations of tetris out there) does NOT infringe on the design right. Mihara's respect for unnoficial tetris games that don't clone his game, such as DTET and GTET, is well inline with this interpretation.
The United States also has registered designs, which it calls "design patents". Unlike a copyright, a registered design isn't automatic upon creation; the inventor must apply for it in each country. In this case, the patent scene from the video (starts at 1:31, after the second set of flags) shows that the USPTO never never granted TTC any U.S. patents or U.S. registered designs. (The video doesn't test Arika as an assignee, only "Tetris" and "Elorg", but USPTO.gov returns 0 results for Arika as well.) The question now becomes whether TTC or Arika applied for a registered design in Japan. Which is part of why I'm not defining the scope of Lockjaw to go as far as some cloners in replicating TGM, especially the fill/drain grade point system of TAP and Ti.
in fact i'm not sure registered designs have been given to video games in the usa at all, but they DO get awarded in Japan. However, since i can't search the japan reginsted design database, i can't check this for myself.
The rules of Dr. Mario are patented in the United States, but Nintendo has never enforced this U.S. Patent 5,265,888. Konami, on the other hand, has enforced its patents on Dance Dance Revolution. Apple owns a patent on the user interface of iTunes, and Linspire had to move the playback controls of Lsongs to the bottom.
the main issue here is that gameplay mechanics must be non obvious to be patented in the US. There is no such requirement for a registered design in the japanese copyright law that I can see. instead, they must be "things of beauty" and they must be creative, novel, and have industrial utility. And it seems GM qualifies to me.
I will also add that Konami had to apply for patents for DDR before the US legal system would take any action against Roxor - prior to that, there were no US patents that Roxor was infringing upon. and the patent (memory serving correctly) covers all rhythm-based games that involve panels on a floor.
Bumped for a second wave, this time blitzing Texmaster videos. Six of mine were pulled this morning. My four newest, and two others. Strangely not all of them, and I don't quite know why they've missed a few.
