mentuat Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 For fun, I spent a few hours on the iOS App Store thinking I might find one or two of my games stolen. In the end I found 86 instances. Some with the title changed, some with a different icon and the occasional one completely translated - but essentially the entire game ripped wholesale. Most are free to download and filled with ads - others are charging for the app. In a lot of cases, there are comments from users disappointed with the amount of ads or poor performance of the games. I've gathered a list of the most common offenders, you might be inclined to check if any of your games have been stolen too. If so, Apple have a very simple form to fill in here: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/appstorenotices/#/contacts Here is that list:https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/rui-wang/id898185915https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/kinsuk-trivedi/id949832167https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/smartphone-apps-basket/id415916362https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/dipak-umarvansi/id904694128https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/shaohong-guo/id787771233https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/imtiyaz-dodhiya/id970011898https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/dhaval-panchal/id384329353https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/dhaval-m-panchal/id414450321https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/mohit-bhalodiya/id932022317https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/bhavik-shah/id494581215https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/krunal-patel/id965616713 GameOptimal, ozdy, magallanes and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlayToMax Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Mentuat, you have done a great work! Thank you for providing the list of iTunes links, where we found lots of our games as well. Did you receive any feedback from 'iTunes Content Dispute' representative? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat.mobi Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Thanks for the list. I did find some of my games there. It is sad!! They even change the credits! That is insane! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninjadoodle Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Thank you for putting this together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mentuat Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Did you receive any feedback from 'iTunes Content Dispute' representative? You receive an acknowledgement receipt from Apple, then a bit later you are copied in on the email that gets sent to the offender which starts like this: On 4/13/2015, we received a notice from Happylander Ltd. ("Complainant") that Complainant believes the app listed below infringes its intellectual property rights. In particular, Complainant believes you are infringing its copyright. The offender is then expected to contact you directly to try and resolve the issue and/or remove the app. So far this morning I've had two responses from offenders claiming ignorance of any copyright issues and agreeing to immediately remove the games. I don't expect this issue will ever go away but I plan to be more proactive about hunting them down and getting them removed because it pisses me off no end ozdy, kuuuurija, labrat.mobi and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat.mobi Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Probably this thread should be pinned. ozdy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modularit Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Thanks for the list, happy to hear they will remove the games(in less then a day you should see the app down if not they are just bullshitting on you), still seem kinda hard to believe they didn't notice any copyright... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat.mobi Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 I still haven't heared from the offender and I also dropped email to Apple regarding it (CC to that guy), no response from Apple too. What should I do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mentuat Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 I still haven't heared from the offender and I also dropped email to Apple regarding it (CC to that guy), no response from Apple too. What should I do?This thread might give you an idea of the process and timescales when dealing with an issue like this http://iphonedevsdk.com/forum/business-legal-app-store/120101-itunes-content-dispute-how-long.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozdy Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 This thread should be stickied and new thieves added regularly. There are many scenarios where it won't be possible to find out if you've been ripped off simply by searching some title or looking at thumbnails in the AppStore. Knowing who usually steals games will be a good point to search for your game. Also, having some devs being complained about frequently might hopefully make Apple ban them completely. GameOptimal and playtwice 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolarJS Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 On of my games has been removed by apple after about 18 months. The ripper claimed it was his copyright and lied a lot and Apple did not react although I've proven copyright and trademarks. I find Apple be very slow with his kind of complaints. Google is much faster. You can expect an app to be removed within 48 hours, without giving the ripper the chance to lie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remvst Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I just got an email from Apple. They removed one app (I probably sent complaints about ~10 of them). I don't even remember when I sent the complaint, they're so slow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mentuat Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 coincidently I received a flurry of app store notice emails as well today, 13 have been removed so far of the 80 or so I complained about GameOptimal and SolarJS 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolarJS Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 That's fast! Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolko Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 those thieves´accounts should be banned immediatly, poor support from apple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat.mobi Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Ya, really poor support from Apple. More than 3 weeks, no updates from them. I already sent 5 emails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mentuat Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 Apple have removed 46 of my stolen games so far ozdy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlayToMax Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Apple have removed 46 of my stolen games so farMentuat, nice result! We contacted Apple Legal Service, they had asked developers to delete infringed content, and some accounts did that almost immediately and sent emails to us.One thing I should mention here is that after deleting infringed content they started to wrap new games, so be aware of that. Those of noticed by us:https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/dipak-umarvansi/id904694128https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/namrata-bosamia/id914227674https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/imtiyaz-dodhiya/id970011898 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_h Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 You would think they would at least get banned or something after repeat counts of ripping off peoples stuff! I just used the link posted above to flag up a few of my games that had been stolen, thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat.mobi Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 just bumping up this thread..My games seems to be removed, but I found some of my other games there now. I hope they ban this guy, https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/rui-wang/id898185915 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OkijinGames Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Thanks for the list - just found out some of my games there too! Actually got a bit annoyed as these guys managed to publish Zombies Can't Jump with a +4 rating while Apple reviewers bothered me for weeks forcing me to publish it with +12 rating at the end... so arbitrary! Rainbow Discus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomDevelopers Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Think that my first html5 game was stoled and reskinned. -.-I hate them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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