Take the popular Mirror’s Edge and Shadow of the Colossus levels. Both are extremely good examples of how you can use other people’s IPs creatively within LittleBigPlanet, and I imagine the creators would be quite honoured to see their creations coming to life in LBP.

I agree that there’s plenty of need for original ideas in there, but some already existing ideas have been really well applied.

Does MGM threaten to sue over every fan-review with a clip from their movie in it? No. Does Capcom sue over every bit of fanart with their character in it? No.

There’s a fairly broad between copyright infringement and paranoia. This seems to be leaning towards the later.

I don’t see how this is any different, to be honest. If they keep this up, the LittleBigPlanet will become quite uninhabited really soon.

I’m sure nobody ever gives a shit about any of this until they believe they’ve been wronged (and still don’t read to the agreements they’ve already agreed to) and whine about it on messageboards.

With a title as high-profile as this and with IP being so important and with the internet ready to blame Sony for *any* misdemeanour that some 13 year old scrote might actually be responsible for, you can’t really blame them for being cautious on this.

If the opposite had happened and, say, there was some level made where you had to topple some twin towers then you’d get just as many internet reactionaries claiming that it’s a crime that such material wasn’t deleted.

That example is subjective, of course, where as copyright and IP material is far more clearly defined and restricted.

I bet the people copying IP/franchises are the same sort of people that moan of sequels and lack of original ideas in games too.

Ah well, time to start spoofing stuff I guess. Polystyrene Cog Liquid anyone?

Unless it’s another of those things that Media Molecule will do a u-turn on just to look like they’re listening to the community and get some positive press out of it? I for one never believed the whole “Shall we include the beta levels in the full game?” line anyway, they knew they’d always include them.

People should be able to create what they want, and it’s no coincidence that the mirrors edge level is one of the most played. i mean whats next, take away a kids crayons cos he drew a picture of mario and posted it on myspace?

As i see it, it’s “Look at our game, we’ll let you build whatever you want, the possibilities are endless!”

The money’s there now and it’s “Ha, suckers!”

Surely IP infringement is IP infringement no matter when it occurs?

It’s not a question of creating something “similar” to older games, but using likenesses and intellectual property that is a clear rip-off is unacceptable. Sony is covering their own @sses in this case, as anybody seeking an infringement lawsuit is going to go after Sony, not the lame copycat that made it, Sony is hosting the infringing file and therefore would be held liable. The P2P aspect of this makes Sony the fall guy.

Avoiding lawsuits is much better than actually trying to fight them in court. Spore, while it was a successful launch has now become a red-headed step-child in the video game world. Much acclaim and hoopla over a very mediocre and poorly implemented game doesn’t usually attract as much attention as does a tier one company like Sony allowing for IP infringement. Nobody cares about Spore anymore and not too many companies are going to go after them for their user created content.

A Hind D?!?

I don’t see a problem with this at all in fact if anything it helps the respected IP’s its viral advertising. It can get people interested in possibly looking into the game the levels based on.

To each there own but this is just a case of big company’s crying over nothing.

These copycat-levels not only hurt the owners of the respective IPs (which I couldn’t care less), they first and foremost hurt the image of LBP.

“PLAY, COPY, SHARE”

Yes, exactly. Be creative! Do your own thing!
You may get your inspiration from other games … no problem with that.
But try to create your own world or don’t create at all.