I have to say though, the only issue I see where MM are at fault is not properly warning a creator that a level infringes on a copyright, and instead of deleting the level, they should instead unpublish the level, thus allowing the creator to remove the items and or names that infringe upon any copyrights or LBP's EULA.
I agree. I understand the why, it is the how that is irksome.
However, reading through many of those posts, clearly a lot of people don't understand the importance of copyrights, and need to educate themselves before screaming bloody murder... not to mention they should probably take the time to read LBP's EULA, and make sure their level is not violating it.
Also agree. And after going into the game last night it appears some of these cases are blown out of proportion. Everyone reported the God of War - Demon Skull level was gone, but it was still in my list of hearted levels last night.
Besides, if what MM has said is true, and judging by the fact that there are still many levels who clearly have copyright material in them and even in their name, they are only removing levels that have been reported by fellow users using the grief tool and where a moderator finds that the level is in violation of the EULA... something we all are required to agree to before playing LBP.
What's funny is that the people complaining are talking about making protest levels, etc. My thought was that the moment a message about my level getting moderated popped up I would hit the grief button and send a screenshot with some snide comment. Some people said it popped up repeatedly, so in that case I would send a grief shot for every time saying their notification system is broken and I demand it be taken down.
And if I felt it was unjust then I would go through and grief all of their own developer-made levels.
However, part of me wonders if the grief tool won't be overused by hyper-sensitive parents. This is why I feel any level moderation done needs, at minimum, an explanation. And likely a protest form so you can defend your level.
Based on that, and the fact that there are still plenty of community levels that have copyright material and names in them, it appears that actual copyright holders are reporting these violations, as is their right, whether we like it or not.
If this is the case then they need to say so. This is the same thing You Tube does but You Tube explains that.
I'd also recommend that you make a copy of your level (unpublished), just in case Activision (or who ever may own the copyright to any names or materials used in your game) asks to have your level removed. This way you'll have the option of still having the level to play for yourself, and or the option of making any necessary changes that will keep it from violating the EULA.
Done. I now have two copies on my create moon.
I have to say I can to a large degree understand the issues with copyright material and its inclusion in created levels, as its fair to say that some companies are not known to have a sense of humour over things like this.
I have no problem with that. It is why I changed my level name to Jungle Pits and did not delete my old scorpion design. My problem is how they went about this.
They say that they are working on a better system now, but the issue is that they had to know this would happen. They saw the beta. It had multiple Mario levels. That should have tipped them off there that they had to create a system that was better than just deleting them. At a minimum a little comment between beta and launch (they had a couple of weeks longer than planned) saying that those kinds of things wouldn't be allowed would have been nice. I mean, look at any game with a level creator. They always get a Mario tribute level. Just because this creator is well beyond the scope any other game has used doesn't mean that the people doing the creation are equally better.
I've finally had a change to play around with the create stuff myself (still working through the story mode) and have put together a small test level, please feel free to have a play everyone.
I'll have to check that out tonight.
I swear I read something somewhere stating that user generated content is not applicable to copywrite laws. Something to the effect of if a user creates their own content that includes copywrited material, the copywrite hold would have to try and sue the user, but since that is insanely cost prohibitive it essentially protects the user crated content.
A host is not responsible for user-created content, but they are responsible for removal of said content if the copyright holder requests it. That is how You Tube works. They also have another angle where Sony can claim ownership of a user-created video featuring one of their games. It stays on your channel, but Sony puts their name on it and can even use it for advertising. I know a few PAIN players who have gotten a notice that Sony claimed ownership to their videos. This is a nice in-between. Sony says, "Hey, that's ours, but you can keep it as long as you let us stamp our name on it."
Now, the issue I am seeing with LBP is that when Sony updated the PSN's online user agreement they went ahead and claimed ownership of any user-generated content on the PSN. Now, consumer angers aside, when you publish a level you do not own it, Sony does. Sony does give you credit though. But Sony owns that level. By this logic Sony has kind of stuck them in a rough spot when it comes to copyrighted material that they do not own, because they preemptively said they own that level, thus sticking their name on a copyright violation.
If you ask me, this sudden rash of deleted levels is the result of some lawyer realizing what they just did to themselves. By claiming ownership so that they can use it as promotional material they also claimed any and all copyright violations. As the huge moderation rush hit last week I would guess that some lawyer noticed either the legal hole they created or all the copyright violations that they have claimed ownership of just then.
Unless they are claiming the 'moderations' are due to EULA infractions and I am way off base.
Some are that too. In fact, copyright violations violate the EULA as well. But I am sure some has to do with mature content and the level creators don't want to admit they had sticker of their dong in LBP.
Also, what does this mean for Guitar Hero World Tour's music creator?
You mean, like if you created a Mario or Zelda theme song in the song creator and then uploaded it? They are already deleting them.
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/11/06/mario-zelda-deleted-guitar-hero/
Anyway, last night I changed the name to Jungle Pits on my level. With less than 200 plays I doubt I will be getting a lot of attentions.
I think I will let it sit for a while and work on my next level. I already have two sketches drawn out on scrap paper, one for the general level design, and one for the boss fight design. That's right. I said boss fight.
Any idea what was going on there? The game has crashed on me once already (again on a user-created level) and frozen me out (weirdly, I could still move my arms, but that was all), which in the short time I've been playing is a bit worrying... but it's early doors yet I suppose...
Still, it looked pretty cool when it all fell to bits 
I have since put a glass frame around it so that it can't fall down - see? I'm learning, aren't I...?
). Hardcore to me is like a serious game, COD4 for instance is a serious game, Gran Turismo of course. Many platformers can just not be taken seriously in that manner, they might be in depth, they might require lots of time to complete, but they are never (usually) all that serious in they're presentation and such like.
I can't get past the outer ring
