Roblox Copyright and trademark infringement

For the user named Copyright, see Community:Copyright.

The Congress shall have Power…To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Tımes to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.

United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 8

Copyright is the protection of creative and original works and intellectual properties from duplication. Trademark allows intellectual property to be identified through a recognizable sign, design or phrase, such as the Nike logo. Intellectual property can be use in commerce and include things such as music, logos, movies, video game softwares, performing arts and books. Using copyrighted items without permission can lead to fines and the removal of said assets.

Copyright, Trademark and associated rules for Roblox are discussed thoroughly within its Terms of Service. By creating an account, users agree to follow said rules and will be held liable for any copyright or trademark infringement that occurs. The player also allows Roblox to use any user-generated-content to the platform's liking. Roblox's Intellectual Property policies follow good-faith from the player, which means that the assets in violation are removed and the player warned. Players are not terminated unless there are repeated or severe copyright infringements.

Rights Manager

Sadly, content theft is common and creators may face challenges with their work being used without permission. Digital Rights Management systems, such as the YouTube Content Manager (Content ID, Enterprise Copyright Match Tool), the Youtube Copyright Match Tool, the Meta's Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Whatsapp Rights Manager and the TikTok MediaMatch provide creators with tools to identify, manage and protect their work.

Roblox has its own digital rights management system called Rights Manager, introduced on March, 2024. Roblox's Rights Manager is a tool which addresses concerns about managing Copyright and Trademark takedown requests. All rights holders, including those that don’t have a presence on Roblox, can use this process to request removal of infringing content hosted on Roblox. People can use Rights Manager to report infringing gameplay experiences, avatar items and assets such as models, plugins, audio, images and videos.

Rights Manager handles infringement of any copyrights the IP holders either own or are authorized to report on behalf of, even if the intellectual property was not created on Roblox.

Roblox's Rights Manager landing page for intellectual properties removal requests.

The terms of use for the Rights Manager require users to be 18 years old or older, have the legal authority to enforce intellectual properties rights and provide accurate information. People can apply as an individual or as an organization.

Rights Manager may allow holders to claim Roblox marketplace content that they believe infringes their intellectual property rights. Those claimed content is removed from the relevant Roblox marketplace and can no longer be acquired by Roblox users. Holders must agree that users who already have the claimed content may continue to use said content. If any Rights Manager feature like the text-based search surfaces potentially infringing content (surfaced content) and holders choose not to claim the surfaced content or the creator disputes the claim, holders agree that Roblox may continue to use that surfaced content unless and until the holder file an IP takedown report requesting the removal of the surfaced content.

Request the removal of content infringing on their intellectual property (IP)

Holders must first be approved as a rights holder or authorized representative through the Roblox Rights Manager registration process. This involves verifying their identity and legal authority via the Creator Dashboard (create.roblox.com). Access the Rights Manager:

• Log into the Roblox Creator Dashboard.
• Navigate to the "Rights Manager" section in the left-hand menu.
• Submit an IP Removal Request:
• Create a Request: In Rights Manager, select the option to submit a new IP removal request.
• Specify the Infringing Content: Provide details about the content you believe infringes on your IP, including:
  • URLs or specific identifiers of the content (e.g., experience, asset, or group on Roblox).
  • The type of IP being infringed (e.g., copyright, trademark).
  • Evidence of your ownership of the IP (e.g., copyright registration, trademark details).
  • Describe the Infringement: Clearly explain how the content violates your IP rights.
  • Include Supporting Documentation: Attach any relevant documents, such as proof of IP ownership or authorization to act on behalf of the rights holder.

Review and Submission:

• Ensure all required fields are completed accurately.
• Be authentic and submit the request for Roblox’s review.

Roblox’s team will evaluate your request to confirm the validity of the IP claim and the reported infringement. If approved, Roblox will take action to remove the infringing content or restrict its visibility. Follow-Up: Holders can receive updates on the status of your request via the Rights Manager interface or email. If the request is denied, Roblox may provide reasons (e.g., insufficient evidence or invalid claim). You can revise and resubmit with additional details if needed. Roblox may require additional information to process complex claims.

Application process

The Roblox Rights Manager is available only to intellectual property owners or their authorized representatives who have the legal authority to enforce intellectual property rights on the game. The Roblox site requires two forms of verification during the registration process to verify the holder's identity:

• Government-ID verification and video verification.
• E-mail verification (with a profissional domain if the holder is acting in name of an organization). Verify your email address associated with your Roblox account. Each incomplete verification type will show a blue verify button to guide you to the appropriate verification page.

Complete the Registration Form:

• Rights holder type: select from the "Type of rights holder" dropdown:
• Choose "I am the rights holder" if you’re acting on your own behalf and provide your full name.
• Choose "I am reporting on behalf of my organization or client" if you’re an authorized representative and provide your full name and the name of the organization or client.
• Fill out all required fields in the form (organization or client name and address).
• Registration for authorized representatives or on behalf of a client or organization must include a Letter of Authorization (one to three files must be sent).
• Submit and Await Approval: once holders submit the registration, Roblox will review your application to confirm your legal authority to enforce IP rights within around few hours or a day. Upon approval, you’ll gain access to Rights Manager to submit IP removal requests. Roblox discards personal data from your documents after verification, except for your date of birth, which is used to ensure account age accuracy and not shared with reported parties.

Submitting false claims via the Rights Manager may lead to termination of Rights Manager access or your Roblox account, per the Rights Manager Terms of Use.

Notable Examples

Since Roblox is a build-to-create website where anyone can create anything, some people will create assets on Roblox that use the copyrighted material. Since such fan games usually fall under fair use, they are usually not dealt with. However, there have been cases of games being taken down by copyright infringement or being forced to rebrand the game to something non-copyrighted, usually if the game makes revenue.

Nintendo Copyrights

Pokémon Brick Bronze, a game taken down by Nintendo.

On October 16, 2016, taymaster tweeted that “ROBLOX Pokemon Go will soon be gone” . The tweet contains an attached image of him emailing Nintendo's copyright infringement email with links to Roblox games that were profiting off the Pokémon trademark. It is presumed this email led to multiple Pokémon games being removed from Roblox in subsequent years, including Pokémon Universe, Pokémon Arena X, Pokémon Reborn RPG, and Pokémon Brick Bronze.

Similarly, Roblox removed multiple games containing content from Nintendo's Super Mario on August 14, 2018, including Paper Mario Roleplay by Dogon. The developers of the game later stated that owner Dogon was warned by Roblox for the copyright infringement^{⁠[citation needed]}. Mario Kart:Roblox Dash was deleted a year later. After these games were removed, Roblox censored both Pokémon and Mario from any game names or username, but these words are not filtered in the chat.

Audio

One of the biggest areas of copyright infringement were found within Roblox's audio feature. When the Audio feature was first introduced, users were able to upload up to 15 seconds of audio at a time; players were able to capture snippets of copyrighted music and play it on Roblox. When the length was increased to 6 minutes, players were able to upload full-length but copyrighted music.

Developer Relations staff KnightGaladeld announced on the DevForum in May 31, 2018, significant changes to Roblox's audio system and copyright concerns. As well as Roblox reaching an agreement with APM Music to allow their licensed music into Roblox, an automated system to flag copyrighted music was announced to be released on June 18. Audio that's flagged would be automatically replaced by a licensed track approved by Roblox. This behavior was later changed to flagged audios being completely silent.

Lamborghini Copyright

On September 30, 2022, an unknown user with a game named "Lamborghini Miami" got removed because the copyright owner Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. sent a notification to Roblox that contained copyright materials owned by someone else and the user got a DMCA strike.

That didn't just affected the user, but all game developers were forced to remove all models related to Lamborghini in their games (such as Greenville, Driving Empire, etc.)

Paramount Global content

Terror in Bikini Bottom, a parody of SpongeBob taken down by Viacom/Paramount

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Spongy Construction Project, a popular SpongeBob fan-game taken down by Viacom/Paramount.

Viacom, later known as ViacomCBS and now Paramount Global is the parent company of Nickelodeon.

On Roblox, Paramount have taken action to remove numerous games that reference Nickelodeon content, by far the most popular of which being SpongeBob-themed games.

This extends not only to general fan games that use SpongeBob characters without Viacom's permission, but even games that parody SpongeBob, such as Terror in Bikini Bottom, Survival The SpongeBob the killer, and Sponge. This is in spite of the fact that parody is explicitly protected under US Copyright Law and has been ruled by the Supreme Court to be protected as Free Speech under US Constitutional Law.

Another notable SpongeBob SquarePants fan-game that was taken down by Viacom is SpongeBob SquarePants: The Spongy Construction Project by spongeis5 which got millions of visits and got taken down on June 24, 2022, during the first release, June 29, 2023, during the second release, and October 20, 2023, during the third release. It is currently available under "Obby Rush!" to prevent takedown.

Gamefam Studios also partnered with Paramount in February 2023 to develop SpongeBob Simulator and TMNT: Battle Tycoon.

Another official experience, SpongeBob Tower Defense, was released on December 21, 2024.

Viacom also had its own experience, Nickverse which is made by Paramount Game Studios, a division of Paramount. However, Nickverse was shut down on October 4, 2023.

Minecraft

Creeper CHAOS, a game taken down by Mojang Studios.

Microsoft, the owners of Minecraft, have had to strike down several Roblox games that directly copy Minecraft. For instance, the game literally minecraft pog 2, as the name might imply, was simply Minecraft ported into Roblox. Another notable game taken down by Microsoft was Creeper CHAOS, which featured Creeper enemies from Minecraft. The developers had to rebrand the game to Creature CHAOS, without using Minecraft's assets.

Multiple Roblox games have also directly copied ideas from Minecraft servers and minigame creators, such as BedWars and Bed Wars! (also known as Spawn Wars or Bed Wars 2) which are directly copied from the game BedWars from the Minecraft server Hypixel. Instead of simply being inspired by or similar to the minigames they are based on, these games recreate a huge number of features with identical functionality and refuse to give any credit to the original creators whose ideas they've taken, while engaging in hyper-monetization. The smaller creators of these gamemodes rarely have the time or funds to pursue copyright claims against copies (or in some cases, don't mind if people copy their ideas), and as such, they are able to stay up.

The game Skyblock, taken from another Minecraft minigame, was shutdown. A more original version with less similarity to avoid another copyright claim, called "Islands," was later released.

Official Roblox Items

Several official Roblox items have faced legal issues over copyright and/or trademark law, or have been removed or changed out of fear of these issues Among them are:

• Got Milk Visor
• Devo - Changed to "Impossible to Obtain Red Wedding Cake Hat"
• Roblox Death Sound
• LOLWUT - Changed to "LOLHOO"
• Catalog:Flintstones Car - Changed to the Catalog:Trophy of Participation 2016, even though this was part of an event that was sponsored by the copyright holders of the Flintstones