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Dev says "false DMCA" from Microsoft got their sandbox game removed from Steam over apparent Minecraft copyright, all because of a screenshot of birch trees (www.gamesradar.com)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/games@sh.itjust.works
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Unomelon, the developer of Minecraft-inspired sandbox game Allumeria, says a DMCA from Microsoft, evidently related to Minecraft, got the game removed from Steam.

"The Allumeria Steam page is currently down because Microsoft has filed a false DMCA claim on it," Unomelon said on Bluesky on Tuesday. "They sent an email earlier today claiming that this screenshot infringes on their copyright. I am taking a moment to figure out what my path is going forward, will update soon."

The screenshot in question (above) is a simple wide shot of a forest filled with birch trees, what look to be oak trees with green and autumnal leaves, and a few pumpkins and weeds checkering the grassy dirt. There are definitely some similarities to Minecraft; if you told me this was a screenshot of a Minecraft mod, I'd probably believe you, but that's true of many voxel-based games, including Hytale.

Direct link to the Bluesky post (Skylib)

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[–] 10 points 9 months ago* (1 child)

Gameplay can be copied just fine, anyway. In fact, most games are just copying the gameplay of something else (not least of which are the THOUSANDS of Minecraft clones that play the same, but have their own aesthetic). This game looks exactly like Minecraft, tho, and it could very easily be confused for Minecraft. That is going to be more damning for the dev than the mechanics.

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  • [–] 3 points 9 months ago

    Of course. I was just bringing it up as a supporting argument to why the DMCA isn't specifically about that image or the trees on it.

    But yeah, gameplay isn't protected by copyright, so that argument from microsoft is just bogus.

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