Anyone know what to do if someones stolen your games and selling them on the Apple Store?

cnmeyer1980 · March 2013

Hi all,

I've just noticed that someone has got hold of 2 of my games (that are no longer on the app store, but I'm in the process of updating) and are selling them as their own!!!! one game 'Box Boy' which they havent changed ANY of the graphics for, and 'Little Spooky' which they have changed the main character! do I report this to Apple, GameSalad, or just leave it? the developers name is Firoozeh Morady!!!

Ugh! what an A*hole!!!!!!! sorry to rant.

Cheers,
Chris

Socks · March 2013

It's happended to a few people on here, T-ShirtBooth was amongst the victims, a couple of the culprits even used to post here on the forums.

You need to report this to Apple.

cnmeyer1980 · March 2013

Hey Socks, thank you for getting back to me - UGH - what a pain! some people are unbelievable! part of the fun it to make your own games, not somehow steal others - thank you for the advise, I'm not sure how to actually report this to Apple, but I will have a look into this (if I find anything I will post the link here for others).

Cheers again,
Chris

BBEnk · March 2013

@sparkidr he also has Space Panda

cnmeyer1980 · March 2013

Hey BBEnk, sorry to hear that

I've just found a link that maybe of use (this is for any stolen Android games, still looking into Apple though)

Wingmanapps · March 2013

Go to iTunes Connect > Contact
Contracts and legal > Rights infringements

Fill out the form there and that should do it

Wingmanapps · March 2013

Firoozeh Morady - has "bought" almost every deepblueapps template and published them without any change - Sad, So Sad

There is also a forum link here where he is scamming people into buying his account

cnmeyer1980 · March 2013

hey Wingmanapps - thank you for this - and you're right, its really sad! I've always thought the idea of templates being that you can see how somethings done and then adapt / add it to 'your own' games - not basically ripping it off. Also, thank you for the link, I'm just about to fill it in. Cheers and thank you

cnmeyer1980 · March 2013

right, all reported! thank you all for your help with this, I will let you know what the outcome it.

Cheers,
Chris

beefy_clyro · March 2013

Firoozeh Morady - has "bought" almost every deepblueapps template and published them without any change - Sad, So Sad

There is also a forum link here where he is scamming people into buying his account
http://iphonedevsdk.com/forum/shameless-advertising/99740-warning-mateen-apps-reza-pekan.html

Jeez he's still up to all his shady dealings! Seriously hope he gets the book thrown at him one day!

Elfizm · March 2013

Well I have heard about him for a long time. Last I heard he was just a kid, so not sure how you would go with any legal issues if that's true.

SolarPepperStudios · March 2013

Well I guess I have to take back my comment on never seeing any trolls (He's more of a pirate) on the forums. Man, I feel sorry for ya man. This makes me want to re-think making one of my older games open-source...

cnmeyer1980 · March 2013

well, hopefully they can at least take down all our apps and maybe (maybe) remove his account - well guys, lets keep our peepers out for others like this

Socks · March 2013

well, hopefully they can at least take down all our apps and maybe (maybe) remove his account - well guys, lets keep our peepers out for others like this

I think Tshirtbooth's appeal to Apple was successful in that the games were removed and the account closed, but this guy (assuming it's the same one) just pops back up under a new name.

I agree we should keep our eyes peeled for this kind of thing, maybe a dedicated thread would help focus all the info in one place ?

SolarPepperStudios · March 2013

@Socks That would be a good idea. Kind of like a neighborhood watch sort of deal. Also I think I found the video that inspired him to do his deeds of evil:

RUPAS · March 2013

incredible ★-lot-of-10-games-★/

SolarPepperStudios · March 2013

@RUPAS Wow, just wow... Should we check the "bay of pirates" for anything GS related?

RUPAS · March 2013

click now

someone should beat a good campion this guy

SlickZero · March 2013

Good ol Mateen. Yes, he is a kid. He's got quite the bright future ahead of him, doesn't he? I blame the parents for his behavior.

There's an adult behind all of this, probably his Dad. I could be wrong, he could be that Nigerian Prince we've all heard so much about.

TheGabfather · March 2013

Anyone checked his Facebook page? Stinker, from the pic to the 'gangsta' statuses. No offense to possible good gangsta devs in the forums

interesting to note typing 'gangsta' here produces no spell check warning..

Braydon_SFX · March 2013

Haha what if he's reading this thread?

I'd give anything to see his face lol.

Seriously, though, there's nothing funny about it. It's these kind of people that make me angry. We developers put a lot of work, sweat and tears (of joy, maybe?) into each game we push out. Having someone come and steal them, whether that's a template or any other game, is just plain wrong. What happened to his conscience? Taking the easy way has it's cost I guess, it'll come back to haunt him someday.

Anyway, so sorry this happened to you, @cnmeyer1980. Maybe look at it a different way - Maybe he stole it because it was such a good game.

Rant over. Move on.

Zenith_Gameworks · March 2013

People like Mateen have no place in this world. They give the American Dream a bad name and exploit others' knowledge and honest, hard work. The scum make my skin crawl. Ughh :-O

cnmeyer1980 · March 2013

ha ha cheers @Braydon_SFX the good thing is, hes tried to do something with the code and completely messed the gameplay up - so - this is at least some kind of result - yep, out of interest I did download it - (which is stupid as I know I've basically given him some $$$) however I kinda wanted to see if he had put any contact info in the game, links ect... however, kinda pleased hes messed the gameplay up, he obviously doesnt know how to code, which, I suppose is something. Anyhow, great idea about setting up a thread where we can post pirated game links.

Cheers all
Chris

cnmeyer1980 · March 2013

Hey @RUPAS, just had a look at your link ★-lot-of-10-games-★/ and yep, the Ghost game is one of mine too (same graphics and everything along with a couple of DeepBlueApps games!!!!) - just going to report this to the sellmyapplication website. Thank you for the heads up

cnmeyer1980 · March 2013

Hi guys,

Result. The link below has now been removed from sale.

Power to GS development :-)

Supersonic9120 · March 2013

Unfortunately this is happening on a larger scale with larger developers such as Zynga. Check out this article...

Ideas cannot be copy written or trademarked. Names of course can be trademarked and certain artwork, but overall a game concept is unfortunately free game.

jonmulcahy · March 2013

Hi guys,

Result. The link below has now been removed from sale.

http://www.sellmyapplication.com/source-code/★-lot-of-10-games-★/

Power to GS development :-)

yea i emailed them about it.

SpriteAttack · March 2013

I had game art from old flash games (HeliAttack3 got ripped 3 times) stolen and turned into iOS titles. It takes some time for apple to reply but if you can state your case they usually take down the ripped/ stolen game.

One thing they have not answered though is the matter sales from stolen games. I never saw a dime from the sales of those games.

Chakku · March 2013

I know that @RP took down a God of War ripoff by contacting Sony (INSTANT TAKEDOWN AFTER THAT

)

And I saw a Zombie Drop clone, and posted it here. @Socks tracked down who it was on the forums, and tshirtbooth had it removed from the App Store (that was not an instant takedown though)!

Chakku

LowPriceMarketplace.com · March 2013

He is still on sellmyapplication.com with name Pekan Mateen

cnmeyer1980 · March 2013

Hey @lowpricemarketplace.com you may have already done it, but ice just reported the above for you too. The guy at sellmyapplication.com is called Bill

Anyone know what to do if someones stolen your games and selling them on the Apple Store?

Comments