After a recent check to my Mochibot account, I realized that The BUTTONS was getting some hits from a site that wasn’t FlashStuf, Newgrounds, or some proxy site. I checked out the link and it showed me that another site was hosting my game, but after some Googling discovered the page it was (and is) on. It turns out someone submitted the game to the website Kongregate, and is taking full credit for creating the game.
While I don’t have much of a problem with people hosting my work on their site, it is completely different to blatantly claim ownership of the game, and post a comment like this in response to some criticisms of the game on that site:
- chesse111
Jun. 01, 2008
- i put a lot of work in to this game plase dont critisise me
This is just ridiculous. I can’t even explain to you how much this blew my mind that someone would be so dumb as to upload my work as their own, obviously thinking I wouldn’t find out, and then complain when people started criticizing them about my work! It just makes you ask what the hell was going through this person’s mind.
I know this isn’t new to some people but this is my first encounter with this kind of thing and jesus, it makes me glad that all my work isn’t that popular. I just couldn’t take the stupidity of some of these people. For those who don’t know, I was the sole creator of The BUTTONS and clearly indicate that in the credits on the game, and by submitting/displaying it on three sites (two of which are my own): FlashStuf, Chicken-Cheese.com, and Newgrounds.
Note to people who want to steal my work next time: I (and many others) use Mochibot in my flash, which is a service that allows me to track who hosts my work and how many views it gets, etc. If you see that I’m putting Mochibot in my credits, that means I am tracking that game or movie. In fact, you can even see the stats on The BUTTONS for yourself. Please, please don’t be such a dumbass next time!
But in all seriousness, chesse111, you should’ve contacted me, and suggested that I submit my game(s) to Kongregate myself. It’s a simple courtesy to the creator and the work he did. If you enjoy my games so much, let ME know and I can take the action to submit it to more sites or even let you host it as my work on your site (assuming you had one). The internet isn’t some place you can walk in and simply take what you please. There are people like myself who put time and energy into creating content like these games so that others can enjoy them, only asking that they receive the credit they deserve in return. It’s just nonsense to think you’d claim the game as your own and steal it when I don’t even make any money off it. This isn’t music you’d normally pay for. This is free entertainment. Don’t claim my (or anyone else’s) work as you own because it’s simply idiotic. However, I hope we can resolve this and it won’t happen again. I didn’t mention specifically, but Kill the Fireflies is mine as well.
Internet
Flash, internet, People
Today I went ahead and contacted Kongregate about my work being stolen and how I’d like it removed. It didn’t take more than 20 minutes for me to get a response telling me my work had been removed. Now that is what I call service.
