GitHub has removed the lock from the RE3 project repository, which was disabled in February after a claim was received from Take-Two Interactive, which owns the intellectual property associated with GTA III and GTA Vice City. The blocking was terminated after the developers of RE3 sent a counterclaim to the illegality of the first decision.
When appealing, it was stated that the project is being developed on the basis of reverse engineering, but the repository contains only the source code created by the project participants, and the object files on the basis of which the game functionality was recreated were not placed in the repository. The RE3 developers believe that the code they have created is either not subject to intellectual property laws or is in the fair use category, allowing the creation of interoperable functional analogues.
It is also stated that the main goal of the project is not to distribute unlicensed copies of someone else's intellectual property, but to allow fans to continue playing old versions of GTA, fix bugs and ensure work on new platforms. The RE3 project helps to preserve the cultural legacy of old cult games, helping to boost Take-Two's sales and spurring demand. In particular, using the RE3 code requires resources from the original game, which encourages the user to purchase the game from Take-Two.
The actions of the RE3 developers were fraught with the risk associated with a possible escalation of the conflict - in response to a counterclaim, the DMCA law requires that restrictions be lifted, but only if the claimant of the disputed claim does not file a lawsuit within 14 days. Sending a counterclaim was preceded by a consultation with a lawyer organized by GitHub. The lawyer warned the RE3 developers about the rights and risks, after which the RE3 team decided to act. Fortunately, everything ended successfully and Take-Two did not start proceedings in court.
Recall that the re3 project is working on reverse engineering of the source code of GTA III and GTA Vice City, released about 20 years ago. The published code was ready to assemble a fully working game, using game resource files that were proposed to be extracted from their licensed copy of GTA III. The code restoration project was launched in 2018 with the aim of fixing some bugs, expanding the possibilities for modders, and experimenting with studying and replacing physics simulation algorithms. In particular, RE3 ported to Linux, FreeBSD and ARM systems, added support for OpenGL, provided sound output through OpenAL, added additional debugging tools, implemented a rotating camera, added support for XInput, expanded support for peripherals, provided output scaling to widescreen screens, a map and additional options have been added to the menu.
Source: opennet.ru