EPTedit: although I found blizzards NA contact info, anyone who has any other thoughts/input/experience etc. is more than welcome to chime in. The more readily available information regarding the expansion of e-sports the better.
Broadcasting SC2 legality questions? - Page 2
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mrgoochio
United States557 Posts
edit: although I found blizzards NA contact info, anyone who has any other thoughts/input/experience etc. is more than welcome to chime in. The more readily available information regarding the expansion of e-sports the better. | ||
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ymirheim
Sweden300 Posts
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teko
Canada1197 Posts
- broadcasting your own game in a tournament you participated in - broadcasting someone's game from a random tournament - hosting a tournament that isn't broadcasted - hosting a tournament that isn't broadcasted but with replays released | ||
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ZenDeX
Philippines2916 Posts
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Bear4188
United States1797 Posts
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TotalBiscuit
United Kingdom5437 Posts
On May 12 2010 02:21 lolaloc wrote: So what happens if you managed to host a big tournament with success without Blizzard's consent? They send their eSport soldiers to hunt you down? It's intellectual property infringement, they'll serve a DMCA take-down notice and then sue you if you don't comply. | ||
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Talic_Zealot
688 Posts
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mrgoochio
United States557 Posts
On May 12 2010 01:41 teko wrote: I wonder where the line is drawn for this. I can think of some examples in the gray area: - broadcasting your own game in a tournament you participated in - broadcasting someone's game from a random tournament - hosting a tournament that isn't broadcasted - hosting a tournament that isn't broadcasted but with replays released I'd also like to know some more specifics on this. I think if blizzard is really going to take esports seriously, they will eventually publish some type of documentation outlining their stance and policies to the public. i haven't been able to find anything so far, but i may have missed it. On May 12 2010 02:33 TotalBiscuit wrote: It's intellectual property infringement, they'll serve a DMCA take-down notice and then sue you if you don't comply. So does that mean other e-sports related game companies just don't care? obviously if it is intellectual property infringement, they have the choice to pursue the offenders.. but for example, I don't recall hearing any issues with counterstrike 1.6 or source related issues. 1.6 is huge in the international scene. However, starcraft broadcasting in korea is admittedly on another level. | ||
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TotalBiscuit
United Kingdom5437 Posts
On May 12 2010 02:37 mrgoochio wrote: So does that mean other e-sports related game companies just don't care? obviously if it is intellectual property infringement, they have the choice to pursue the offenders.. but for example, I don't recall hearing any issues with counterstrike 1.6 or source related issues. 1.6 is huge in the international scene. However, starcraft broadcasting in korea is admittedly on another level. It's extremely complex and far beyond my level of expertise and it's precisely this complexity that makes it horribly expensive and time-consuming to bring any kind of case against it even if the company in question wanted to, which a lot of them don't. I mean what's the benefit of suing CS 1.6 broadcasters? | ||
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mrgoochio
United States557 Posts
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TotalBiscuit
United Kingdom5437 Posts
On May 12 2010 03:09 mrgoochio wrote: I agree, and same question.. but for SC2 broadcasters (minus any of the organizations under kespa lol) I highly doubt ActiBlizz will sue any online SC2 broadcasters, there is nothing to gain from it. | ||
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HDstarcraft
United States577 Posts
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Martijn
Netherlands1219 Posts
On May 12 2010 02:37 mrgoochio wrote: So does that mean other e-sports related game companies just don't care? obviously if it is intellectual property infringement, they have the choice to pursue the offenders.. but for example, I don't recall hearing any issues with counterstrike 1.6 or source related issues. 1.6 is huge in the international scene. However, starcraft broadcasting in korea is admittedly on another level. There have been a lot, a lot of issues with Valve demanding a lot of money for licenses and refusing to give licenses for 1.6 in favor of CSS for a long time. I can tell you there's definitely similar policies in place there. | ||
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A_Spec
Netherlands45 Posts
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shmoo
United States139 Posts
Early on when BW was really getting going in Korea, Kespa was the broadcasting powerhouse and had all the cards for a variety of reasons. Blizzard felt that they deserved a piece of the pie and some authority over it since it was their game. Kespa would not play ball so Blizzard decided to back/create GomTv I think it was called, as a competitor to Kespa. Kespa used it political influences to basically have GomTv killed, thus preventing Blizzard from getting into the cookie jar. Blizzard is now negotiating from a place of power in regards to SC2 in order to make an example of Kespa. Blizzard has basically decided to say from the get go, this is my show and this is how its going to be. Blizzard is very interested in esports, and it seems as long as they are kept in the loop and have the option of saying no, they are happy for now. | ||
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Disastorm
United States922 Posts
Can Blizzard legally prevent someone from hosting a non-profit tournament of a game (thats not in beta)? Personally, I find that hard to believe. Can blizzard really tell a bunch of guys that bought their game that they can't play each other by using a bracket system? | ||
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dew
United States59 Posts
On May 12 2010 09:12 Disastorm wrote: Can Blizzard legally prevent someone from hosting a non-profit tournament of a game (thats not in beta)? Personally, I find that hard to believe. Can blizzard really tell a bunch of guys that bought their game that they can't play each other by using a bracket system? Read those little things that come up every time the game updates. You don't own anything when it comes to SC2. You pay that $60 but you have to play on Blizzard's terms, or not at all. | ||
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shmoo
United States139 Posts
Would Blizz prevent 16 friends from doing a tournament where no money is involved? No If you are spamming about a cash prize tournament all over the place and do not get permission from their esports team, then yes they can and indeed have stopped it. | ||
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Gibybo
United States229 Posts
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Disastorm
United States922 Posts
On May 12 2010 10:52 Gibybo wrote: I don't think they have legal recourse to stop you from running a tournament, but they have control of their trademarks and probably any public display of their product. However, they now have the technical ability to stop you from running any tournaments by forcing everyone to play only on Battle.net (and it would be within their legal rights to do so). I think this sounds more accurate. I really dont think blizz can stop a tournament thats non-profit (this is different than cash prize. A tournament can still be cash prize but the organizers could make no profit off it, as most console game lan tournaments are) , they just MIGHT be able to stop it from being streamed. You guys talking about the EULA know that EULA is not [completely] legally binding right? | ||
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