Namco forces Scratch to take down Pac-Man project

All this....over a Pac-Man project?

On July 29, 2010, a fanmade recreation of the original Pac-Man arcade game by the user 124scratch was removed from the Scratch website (scratch.mit.edu) by request of Bandai Namco, which they believed was copyright infringement.

What Happened

A lawyer from Bandai Namco had sent a cease and desist letter to the Scratch Team, claiming that the project infringes on their copyright. The Scratch Team took down the project in accordance with Bandai Namco's requests.

Controversy

"I have a good faith belief that the "PAC-MAN Arcade" Scratch game by user 124Scratch found at: scratch.mit.edu/projects/124scratch/1174868 infringes Namco's rights by offering visitors the unauthorized use of infringing copies of the "PAC-MAN" game product which is protected by copyright and trademark law."

— NAMCO's Cease and Desist

Once the project was removed, it gained immediate backlash from several Scratch users and users of other sites. Some had also found it ridiculous that Namco would go after a random kid's Scratch project when there are countless of Pac-Man clones that exist on the Internet to this day. Others also created a petition to put the project back up, and over 160 users signed it. Some also sent emails to Namco to make them reconsider, but they never responded. A user by the name of cheddagirl (a member of the Scratch Team) also responded to the situation: "Apparently, they thought a ten year old's Pac-Man project is a threat to their finances and economic well-being".

However, some users of Scratch sided with Namco, claiming that it was right for them to have taken it down, in which they had also made their own petition which gained little support.

Aftermath

After the takedown had occured, the Scratch Team claimed that all projects uploaded onto the site fall under fair use for "educational purposes" and continue to dislike the removal of the project to this day.

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