Take-Two Issues Multiple DMCA Requests Against GTA Mods

American publisher Take-Two Interactive, citing copyright law, demanded the removal of nine modifications for the games of the Grand Theft Auto series from the site LibertyCity. Earlier, the head of the company, Strauss Zelnik, said that Take-Two will file complaints about add-ons for its games only in the event of an economic threat or if they contribute to inappropriate behavior in the community.

Vice Cry: Remastered 1.0 – transfers the map from GTA: Vice City to the RAGE engine, which was used in GTA IV and GTA V.

OpenManhunt 1.0.0 – Replaces the original GTA: San Andreas map with levels from the Manhunt dilogy, also developed under the Rockstar Games brand.

Liberty rewind- supplements GTA V with a map of Liberty City from GTA IV.

Bullworth – OpenBull 1.0.0 – Replaces the map in GTA: San Andreas with the city of Bullworth from the PC version of Bully, published by Rockstar Games.

ViIV (Alpha version and Version 3) – transfers the city of Los Santos and its surroundings to GTA IV.

Grand Theft Auto V: Bullworth 0.1 [ALPHA] – replaces the GTA V map with a city from Bully.

SA2LC – Converts San Andreas State to GTA III.

Liberty City & Vice City v4.0 – supplements GTA III with game mechanics from GTA: Vice City.

These global modifications have been removed due to copyright infringement, said a representative of the LibertyCity resource. The administrators explain that all modifications to one degree or another are ports of locations, cities, and transport from other projects released by Take-Two.

Due to the actions of the publisher, some publishers and users have speculated that Take-Two is preparing to release updated versions of older games. However, Rockstar Games and Two-Two Interactive did not respond to this announcement. The public has reason to count on the release of updated versions of the games, since the game GTA V, released on Sony PlayStation 3 in 2013, was then ported to Playstation 4 and Playstation 5. To remasters or remakes of GTA III, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas hinted at the Kotaku site.

Mass deletions of modifications from ModDB started after the DMCA strike was sent to Take-Two on July 17. In particular, then a number of additions fell under the sanctions, including GTA Underground. The reason for this reaction from the publisher remains unknown.

At the end of July, the creators of the United modification for GTA: San Andreas removed the add-on without waiting for Take-Two’s demands. The mod is a combination of locations from GTA III and GTA: Vice City.

The major site for various game add-ons, Nexus Mods, banned mod removal in July. However, they can be archived or deleted upon request to the resource administration. Modder Arthmoor, known for add-ons for Skyrim, reacted to the new site rules by stating that he intends to remove his work from Nexus Mods.

Blizzard has warned the creators of mods for the alpha version of the upcoming Diablo 2: Resurrected about the intention to sue them for intellectual property violations. Mods unlocked character classes that were closed in alpha and also allowed you to play it without an Internet connection. Blizzard handed a warning letter to one of the add-on developers in the United States through a private detective.