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Asset was purchased, then pirated by same user - how to revoke access?

A topic by Thraxx Media created Sep 17, 2023 Views: 224 Replies: 7

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Hello there,

just as the title suggests: I’ve unfortunately fallen victim to software piracy very recently, i.e. one of my products I’m offering here on itch was first purchased, then almost immediately pirated (i.e. given away for free, publicly) on another website. The user in question was even stupid enough to do all this under the exact same username - so they’re the same person, obviously so, both here and on the other website (besides, there’s been only 1 sale to this day anyway, so I know it’s them).

I’d like to revoke access / cancel the purchase or something, to prevent further illegal spreading of the software. Is this at all possible?

If a moderator would like to see proof, please get in touch with me.

Thanks.

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No Time To PlayModerator227 days ago

Please contact support.

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Lantana Games227 days ago

Since they already have it up on their website, you'll probably want to get in touch with a copyright lawyer. I wouldn't do anything before that as you want that transaction trail in place. Screenshot and archive (even internet archive) everything.

If that sounds like it's going to be too expensive an endeavor, I completely understand. If the pirate is selling the asset on his own site, you can probably report that to Google. If he's selling it on a third party site like TurboSquid, you can probably get in touch with them instead. None of this will stop him completely, especially in the future. But my top suggestion would be to remove anything from the Q&A about hacking or pirating or anti-cheat, as this kind of stuff just inspires people to try.

After that you will probably want to think about somehow switching to a one-time licensing key system, rather than a pay-for-download system, for future versions, and distributing the asset for free with a paid license to unlock more features.

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Thraxx Media227 days ago (1 edit) (+1)

Hi, thanks for the suggestions. That makes a lot of sense, and I’ll consider what you said.

To add just one small thing as clarification: it’s plausible that mentioning anything about anti-cheat etc. would possibly “inspire” some people to try their hand at it. However there’s 2 issues: a) it’s a feature of the asset, so I’d be wrong to not advertise it properly (otherwise it might as well just not be there). And b) I already happen to know why the user in question decided to go this route.

Simply put: they’re disgruntled because I didn’t wanna “be friends” with them on social media.

Anyways, I’ll do as No Time To Play suggested and contact support now. Thanks again.

/edit: everything so far has been thoroughly documented of course.

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Lantana Games227 days ago(+1)

Petty people are only worth a laugh. 😂

There's no real solution for that other than to act like someone nobody wants to be friends with.

In an approach opposite to the above, Death, Love, and Carrots looks beautiful and I can't wait to try it!

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redonihunter227 days ago(+1)

Uhm. I am not a lawyer of course. But should you not contact the site were the file was uploaded? Like with those dmca stuff?

Even if you retroactivly cancel the purchase - wich might be troublesome - this will not take the pirated copy off the net or off the users hard drive.

Also, you are talking about an asset not a game? You sure anyone would be interested in making games with pirated assets? Some gamers would play pirated games, of course. But devs using pirated assets? Why? If you try to release your game you would get serious problems and risk your game

And while I am at it, what kind of dev browsed illicit asset stores at all? Because, if the store the thing was uploaded to, is not illicit, just notify them and be done with it. They will remove it, since they are not illicit.

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Thraxx Media227 days ago

Oh, no worries: the other site where the unauthorized distribution took place - believe it or not - just so happens to be the official community forum of the game engine the asset is tailored to. I’ve already made their staff aware, and the link was taken down + the user contacted. I’ve made sure to document everything beforehand, of course.

This doesn’t mean however that it should be tolerated having known thieves on itch.io - if there’s proof that someone (who even develops and offers stuff on here themselves) is pirating other people’s works, I understand that there’s not much itch can do about the distribution aspect itself… but what they can do is to ensure the user cannot engage in any further illegal activity via this platform. It is, after all, a clear and severe violation of ToS.

Again, support has been contacted now. Thanks for sharing your opinion.

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redonihunter227 days ago

For some reason I cannot reply to posts inside this thread. Strange.

Anyways, this is a reply to the reply to my post.

what they can do is to ensure the user cannot engage in any further illegal activity via this platform

Sorry for laughing very loudly about that. If itch was able to do that, there would not be an abundance of stolen stuff posted on itch over and over and over and over and over and over again by the same people. Itch staff often takes weeks to take down such accounts.

No one can hinder your "friendly" user to post your stuff even on itch itself. Sure, you can report his new account. And next week again. And the week after that.

I do not want to belittle your concerns, so sorry, if this sounds exactly like that. But you are not exactly losing money over this. If this is the official community for the tool and he posted unauthorized stuff, the mods and admins there would have dealt with this. Without making much noise. If you escalate, you risk ... well escalating. Gaining a stalker harrasser fan is not funny. Over what?

Sure, you might persuade itch staff to take action against that account. You might do the account holder some harm. But is this really worth it?

As I said, if this is the offical and legit community, he posted your stuff, he is not doing himself a favor. And he would not harm you by doing so, other than pissing you off, if you let yourself be angered by that. Ask yourself, wich dev would download your stuff from there with knowing that it was pirated? Not any dev that you would want to be your customer anyways, I want to bet.

So remove the posted stuff from the official forum and relish in the thought that he paid you money. What you are now doing is trying to have his account damaged, escalating and risking him taking revenge on you. And if you try to take real legal action, well, as I was saying, I am not a lawyer, but if I were one, I would laugh at you, after you explained the amount of damages he owes you for pirating the software asset. (you did admit that you only had 1 sale so far. The consulation fee for a lawyer is many times more than that.)

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