Endermen, Creepers, and Copyright: The Bogeymen of User-Generated Content in Minecraft
![handle is hein.journals/tuljtip16 and id is 195 raw text is: COMMENTS
Endermen, Creepers, and Copyright:
The Bogeymen of User-Generated
Content in Minecrafi
Melinda J. Schlinsog*
I. INTRODUCTION ........................................ .....1 85
II. MINECRAFT THE GAME ......................... ........ 187
III. Do GAMERS HAVE RIGHTS TO UGC UNDER CONTRACT?............. 190
IV. COPYRIGHT AND ITS APPLICATION TO VIDEO GAMES ..... .....1 93
V. Do GAMERS HAVE RIGHTS TO UGC UNDER THE COPYRIGHT
ACT? .................................. .............. 195
A. Copynightable or Infringing Copyright ................... 195
B. Protectable Expression ........................ 196
VI. DERIVATIVE WORKS ........................... ............. 197
A. Exceptions and Defenses to UGC Copyright
Infringement. ..............................201
B. Section 117....................... ........201
C Fair Use Doctrine ...........................202
VII. ANALYSIS ........................................... ...... 204
I. INTRODUCTION
While the video game Mimecraft was still in beta testing, Jens
Bergensten, the lead developer, discovered a new modification (mod)
created by one of the game's users.' That user was Hippoplatimus, a
fifteen-year-old player who had created and posted online a
downloadable mod that added features called pistons to Minecraft.2
Bergensten was so impressed by this mod that he offered to incorporate it
into the official game, but only if Hippoplatimus chose to submit his
* 0 2013 Melinda 1. Schlinsog. Senior Articles Editor, Volume 16, Tulane Journal of
Technology and Intellectual Property. J.D. 2014, Tulane University Law School; B.A. 2011,
Northwestern University. The author would like to thank Professor Sandra Miinzel de Queiroz
for her editorial assistance and the Journal Editor in Chief Daniel Blackburn for introducing her
to the world of Minecraft. The author would also like to thank all of the members of Volume 16
for their hard work and dedication to the Journal.
I. Jens Bergensten, TWITrER (Mar. 31, 2011, 12:45 AM), https://www.twitter.com/jeb_/
status/53362275754590208.
2. Hippoplatimus, [1.1] Piston Patch-Updated for .I/, MINECRAFT FORUMS (Mar. 27,
2011, 11:49 PM), http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/228373-1 I-piston-patch-updated-for-Il/.
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Endermen, Creepers, and Copyright: The Bogeymen of User-Generated Content in Minecraft
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