Re3 and ReVC (reverse engineered GTA implementations) back on github after DCMA counter notice

PS Vita version of re3

Torrenfreak report that the reverse engineered versions of GTA III and GTA Vice City are back on github, following a DMCA Counter notice by the developers.

Take Two’s DMCA Notice in February, several fork owners dispute the claim

In February, Take Two and Rockstar had the re3 project taken down from github with a DMCA claim. Not only was the re3 project taken down, but most of its forks as well (which makes sense).

Several developers of the forks disputed the DMCA notice a few months ago, by sending their own counter notices to github, including for the Nintendo Switch port.

These forks were later reinstated. This does not mean that github has taken these developers’ sides, or that Take Two have given up on taking this down, but it’s a legal requirement: “Under the DMCA, GitHub is required to restore the code after 14 days, unless the copyright holder files a lawsuit”, says torrentfreak.

re3 Developers file their own counter notice, get their code back online in June

The initial success of these forks to be put back online apparently motivated the original developers of re3 to file their own counter notice this month. After 14 days have passed and Take Two didn’t reply with a lawsuit (which would be the next legal step), github had to put the code back a couple days ago.

Here again, it doesn’t mean that Take Two have given up, or that github have picked a side. However, it means the code is back for now. At the time of this writing, it appears all forks mentioned in Take Two’s original DMCA notice are now back on github.

The developers of the re3 project firmly believe that re3 classifies as fair use under U.S. law. They tell torrentfreak:

“We claim that our project falls under fair use: our goal is clearly not piracy or anything as you still need the original game. Rather we want to care for the game by fixing and improving it and bringing it to new platforms. This has caused many people to buy or re-buy the game from Take-Two, so it’s not like they’re losing money, quite the opposite”

re3 – What’s next ?

For now, you can still enjoy the Vita port of GTA III , as well as the Nintendo Switch version, if you have one of these two consoles and it happens to be hacked. Even when those were taken down from github, multiple compiled versions have still been circulating since then (it’s worth noting that you cannot play the game without assets that can only be found if you own the original game)

Whether Take Two will take stronger legal action, or will avoid tarnishing their image, remains to be seen.

Source: torrentfreak (thanks to adam_gawa for the tip!)