Yesterday I wrote a review of the new video game Everything. In it I used a screenshot—a VHS tape speaking to a slice of pizza (above)—that a fellow player posted on Twitter. I sent the review to him in high spirits. He was furious.

He asked me to remove the image. He claimed it was his and he had not given permission for its use. He was angry that I was profiting off what he sees as his work.

This post will serve not only as a full response to him but also as a think piece on the nature of copyright and fair use. Most of all, this is about the perfect irony of a dispute over ownership of an image from a game about the interconnection of Everything.

The Claim

I sent my review to two Twitter accounts yesterday: the developer and the man who sent the developer a screenshot. The developer did not respond—he only reacted to my tweets asking for help with technical issues, for which I thank him. The man—I will call him Mr. E, because he is surely is—did respond. Here is his reaction:

Are you the author of that article? If so, I did not give permission to use my screenshot in your piece.

This caused me anxiety and confusion. I responded:

Oh! I thought you’d be flattered. Ok. Um. Of what are you claiming ownership? I’m happy to talk about this.

I am very careful about what images I use on Steemit so I was happy to be educated and to remove the image if Mr. E’s claim seemed valid. He replied quickly:

I do own it. It's my photo. It appears you are using it on a site that generates revenue, which I did not authorize. Please remove it.

Analysis

I was grateful for his politeness, but still unclear about what he thought he owned. It's not even a photo.

I did some cursory research and found that any screenshots taken of a game remain copyright of the game developer. Here is an example. I sent it to him and asked for his feelings:

Who owns the copyright on an in-game screenshot? on Quora

The only caveat is that the person who has clicked the screenshot button may have arranged elements of the game artistically, but because the developer created the elements and the means to set up a scene in a certain way, that point is effectively moot.

The link did not sway him. He said:

I think I've made [my feelings] pretty clear, yeah?

I did have some sympathy though. He clearly thinks he created the image. Whereas I feel sure it belongs to the developer and falls under fair use. I decided to get some advice from a game developer, gratefully received.

"As a professional game developer, I've been following Pizzagate (no, not that Pizzagate) with interest.

So we have: E vs Konig.

I remember when we launched Kiwanuka and it lodged at number one on the App Store, there were screenshots everywhere, many of them depicting unique situations in the game.

But we never had anyone claiming copyright of derivative images of our work. So this is a new tactic to me.

To use a Wonka analogy: Just because you make a chocolate cake out of Wonka Bars, it don't mean you get to wear Wonka's top hat and tell the oompa loompas what to do.

Copyright is held by the game developer. And, there's something called 'Fair Use' that covers game reviews.

I also found it interesting that E claims that Konig is using the game image for profit, when E is using the image to profit Twitter, who made $2.52 billion in revenue last year alone.

Konig appears to have made shy of two dollars for his review.

Perhaps this is all clever satire on E's part?

If not, the question has to be asked: Has E missed the essential message of Everything?

He seems like a good guy; so perhaps it's time to reflect on his Prima Nocte of Konig's article and they could both collaborate on a new Steemit post together?"

Co-developer of the hit game Kiwanuka, formerly known as Chris Stevens.

This made things clearer.

But I still felt bad that Mr. E felt bad. I extended an olive branch.

1/3 Yes, and I hoped you would elaborate on your claim. I don’t believe this image belongs to you and I’m sure the developer would agree.

2/3 However, I am upset that you are upset, because we are the same person. Also, the image is not essential to the review.

3/3 So I will remove it if we can agree that this situation is ironic given the central theme of Everything. Is that a fair compromise?

His reply:

Oh so it's ok for you to profit off of my experience with the game using an image you CERTAINLY don't own nor asked ANY permission to use?

That did make me wonder if I’m profiting from Mr. E's time. But the fact that the elements he screen-shotted existed already—so he only found what he had been directly given—made me dismiss that also.

In legal and reasonable terms, by tweeting and publishing this screenshot, we have both made fair use of the developer's copyrighted material. Mr. E to profit Twitter, and me to profit myself.

Questions

You may think I am better off completely ignoring this situation. But Everything taught me that we are all one and the same. There are no people or buildings or amoebas or galaxies. There is only Everything. Therefore I seek harmony.

One might ask, in that case why have copyright protection for anything? Great question! I welcome your answers.

My question for Mr. E is: If you own this image, does the developer need your permission to publish it?

I welcome all responses. I have not ruled out removing or reattributing the image should I be presented with strong evidence I've used it illegally or unethically.

Thank you for reading.

UPDATE: The developer has now 'favorited' the review link I sent him on Twitter.