All clone game will be remove due to copyright?

I receive email from Google this morning about remove my game due to DCMA violate. This is my first problem.

My game is Flow Free clone but have not title and description relate to that, interface not the same.
I lost more 10$ a day with this game. They said that: " U.S. federal courts have held for video games that a
clone is infringing and substantially similar for purposes of copyright
infringement if the “total concept and feel” of the two games is the same"

Anyone have experience with this? not publish app in US can pass this?

Many app have million download still exist here why don’t they don’t delete it: :mad:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=slide.flowFrenzy
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitmango.flowline

Text copy of DMCA complaint: subject_lr_dmca: Your Request to Google
full_name: Stephen McArthur
companyname: The McArthur Law Practice
represented_copyright_holder: Big Duck Games, LLC
contact_email_noprefill: [email protected]
country_residence: US
location_of_copyrighted_work: Flow Free:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bigduckgames.flow&hl=en
Flow Free: Bridges:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bigduckgames.flowbridges&hl=en

description_of_copyrighted_work: The copyrighted works are the Flow Free
and Flow Free: Bridges video games, both original works by Big Duck Games,
LLC. Registered copyrights for both games include PA 1-907-000, PA
1-907-001, PA 1-908-714, PA-1-915-664, and PA 1-917-339. Big Duck is a two
employee, husband and wife, indie game studio. Flow Free was written from
scratch starting in 2011 and its two founders have worked hard to make it a
success.

The nature of our copyright complaint is that the infringing games are
substantially similar clones. They (1) replicate the exact gameplay
organization and experience of the original Flow Free game, and (2)
incorporate imagery from the game, which federal courts have said is enough
to be considered copyright infringement. See, e.g., Spry Fox LLC v.
Lolapps, Inc., 2:12-cv-00147-RAJ (W.D. Wash. Sept. 18, 2012); see also
Tetris Holding, LLC v. XIO Interactive, LLC, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74463
(D. N.J., May 30, 2012). The infringing clones have the same gameplay as
Big Duck’s Flow games and are substantially similar with the same total
concept and feel. U.S. federal courts have held for video games that a
clone is infringing and substantially similar for purposes of copyright
infringement if the “total concept and feel” of the two games is the same.

I would remove it. you’ll lose more in court fees

Well, their Google started going again ! I don’t know what is the problem with these guys … hell if I was you I would have delete those ! Is their anyone who can make them understand that we have to go nuts in order to develop an app ! :mad:

They just alllow any DMCA complaint without checking if it has any merit. Nothing we can do about it. Save money, be prepared to move on. Every game can be found to be a clone of some other game.

That’s some pure shit ! Anyway I would also start putting down the apps which looks similar because I don’t actually want to loose my account getting some sort of peculiar emails from Google they they are trying to … with me ! :frowning:

@xjoey20x : They have removed it and email me :mad:
@Magnesus : It just a DCMA report from “The McArthur Law Practice” and then my app deleted, i have some app on Apple Store, now i think invest more to iOS, Apple will email and then give both side discuss before any decision but Google not.

yup, thats google for ya. unless your a major dev like EA or sony, anyone can go file a DMCA complaint and it google will always take down the app and not do an investigation, they have a “guilty until proven innocent” policy.

And they do the same thing on YouTube. Once a company removed their own trailer from their own YouTube account by a DMCA. :smiley:

Sonic infringes on Mario’s copyright, both jump and collect coins. We have dumbasses now that work in copyright offices now, Just like we have dumbasses in the whitehouse now too.

I saw screenshots from your app. And it looked more similar to flow free than those games. Your game had similar colors, similar icons in game, similar game icon.

Also, have you seen how many games those developers have? I guess maybe they are afraid to report those games, because those developers could have money to defend themself. And court could decide that cloning a game which just implemented gameplay idea from 1800 / 1900s isn’t copyright infringement:
Numberlink - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Agreed. Low to average earning Indies get ****ed by all lol.

Google/apple ****s indies
Other app stores **** indies
Ad networks **** indies
Users **** indies
Big companies **** indies
Sometimes beginner indies **** up themselves :smiley:

Either become a publishing house like king/supercell so that banning u is app store loss or become a spammer so that u don’t care about bans.

Because i don’t live in US and i have not much money, the color? Who license the colors? Button? It 's windows phone 's button. My level don’t similar to them too.
Because they get too much money from it, so they want to ruin all small one. Many game like this have report and delete, they have difference color and interface like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Z1JYr1KV0

@hackformore - your example uses flow in the name. I know it’s ridiculous but flow is trademarked and can’t be used. :frowning:

@Magnesus They rename it before Google delete. This is other example: Draw Lines Puzzle - iOS Store Store Top Apps | App Annie
He have android version and now it delete, he publish on Apple store:). This is android version: https://sameapk.com/draw-lines/.
And many more, because before publish app i have search and install many similar game on my phone

The color interface still identical to original Flow game. Need to make it different graphics/UI and gameplay. It is funny to see that Apple Store is accepting clone now while Google Play is trying to remove clones. In early years, they are doing the opposite thing where Apple is more strict and Google play is more less strict. Possibly a different treatment from the Apple yearly $99 vs Google $25 fee once?

This is bad news. All the other flow games are working with a color interface and are descending from numberlink. My flow game was only taken down in USA because of the flow trademark. Another app with Lego name in the title was also only taken down in USA. Maybe the flow name has only been trademarked in USA, but how about the Lego name? Maybe it´s better not to publish apps in the USA because the apps will be less likely noticed?

I got a threatening letter from a law firm claiming to represent Atari because the TITLE of my game “Asteroid Defense” infringed on their copyright of “Asteroids”. My game wasn’t a clone (except you get to shoot asteroids among other things), so they asked me to change the title, and threatened they would have my Google Play account terminated if I didn’t comply. So I unpublished the game because it had 20 downloads in 30 days.

lol… not what was funny ! Anyway they have to because if they didn’t others will start laughing at them … :smiley: