Microsoft Might Have Stolen This Guy's Ad Concept for PUBG

Microsoft debuted a new image advertisement for the new Xbox One X + PUBG bundle. However, it looks a lot like an ad concept first shared by a Redditor over a month ago.

[darthv72]

Whatever the case may be... it seems the twitter post no longer exists:
https://twitter.com/Xbox/st...

If they did steal it (looks like they did) then it was something worth stealing. It is a pretty cool concept the guy came up with.

[moegooner88]

It is still being advertised on Facebook though per the posts on Reddit.

[Alexious]

Lame. I hope they at least acknowledge this publicly.

[EatCrow]

@alexious

They dont have to acknowledge anything.
This idea could have come from someone and if he claims he didnt steal it then MS has no need to acknowledge anything.

In graphic design ideas are worth a lot and many times I've seen different people come up with very similar ideas however the execution of the idea is usually where the paths diverge. This looks too similar.

[Jinger]

I mean for all we know MS could have contacted him and got permission or even paid him for the design. Speculating and hating isn't going to help.

[Christopher]

Why would he post about it being stolen then? The designer is the one who made the Reddit post about Microsoft using his concept.

[fr0sty]

Stealing is messed up no matter how you try to look at it. There are people out there making a living doing this sort of thing, and Microsoft takes it upon themselves to rip off this kid's talent and hard work so they don't have to pay their ad agency to do it for them? That's lame. Few people work harder for every dollar they earn than artists. They don't call us "starving artists" for fun. Half of the people who come up to us wanting to use our skills plan on either asking us to give them away for free (sorry, the power company does not accept "exposure" as payment), or they plan on ripping us off entirely without even speaking a word to us. Meanwhile, that rent check just bounced. Here we are, drawing and animating away, hoping the next guy coughs up a paycheck, and on time. Maybe if we're lucky, enough will be left over to grab lunch, too.

Microsoft should be ashamed of themselves, and this kid should sue the crap out of them and make them regret ripping him off. Even if this was something he did for fun in his spare time, it sets a dangerous precedent that it's OK for a multi-billion dollar company to steal from Average Joe.

[darthv72]

I agree, but we don't know any more than the idea was crafted by another person. did MS reach out to him? did he even talk to MS and submit his idea to them? Their final ad is similar enough that at least they looked at it enough to consider changing some of the design. It doesnt excuse them if they did it without his knowing. But if there was some sort of agreement then that would have to be between the original creator and MS.

Nothing in the article says yes or no and no update on the reddit to say yes or no. There is more to this than what we know. It is a cool design... he should get something for influencing the final product.

[rainslacker]

Ever consider the ad agency that MS employs for all this kind of stuff ripped it off, and MS may have been unaware of it's existence on reddit. Not that that makes it right overall, but doesn't necessarily mean that MS is to blame at this juncture.

You do know that MS doesn't do their own inhouse ad campaigns right?

I empathize with what your trying to say, because I've done contract work before, but it's not unheard of of contracted work to use work ripped off from somewhere else.

In this case, given the story, there was no contractual obligation between MS and the redditor, so if he made something, he did it on his own time without any expectation. He made a derivative work, which MS(or it's ad agency) made another derivative work off of. Rip off....maybe, but nowhere near illegal in this case, nor does MS really owe the guy anything. If they take it down, or end up paying the guy for it, it's because it's a decent thing to do(assuming it was ripped off), not because they have any obligation to do so. If he feels he has rights to gain monetary return from it, he can take it up with an attorney, but as of now, it doesn't appear that there is any contractual obligation for MS to give him anything, and since this all falls into derivative work, it becomes really murky in deciding who came up with what, as there are several ownership rights to contend with from the IP owner, the owner of the pictures used, the creator of the ad concept, etc.

[joab777]

Who knows. Maybe the profits from it will be worth the payoff. Cuz it won't go to court. MS will just settle.

Crazy though. A Redditor just made some crazy quick cash and publicity. Mnebe he gets a job too.

[ccgr]

Still have yet to play this game

[eyeDEVOUR]

Don't get overhyped like I did. I watched it all year because it reminded me of Socom while playing in 3rd person. But the character moves like a gokart on a greased up lawn. Strafing is almost no existent even on the pc version..

[lxeasy]

I have it on the Xbox preview program and its a ton of fun. My friends and I won our first chicken dinner yesterday lol

[Jackhass]

The fan version actually looks better than the pro ripoff.

[bluefox755]

Looks like a pretty blatant ripoff.

[Dlaw76]

Boy they policing everything Microsoft I'm sure Microsoft will compensate the guy for his hard work and them using his footage

[FarEastOrient]

This is Microsoft, have learned nothing from the 90s and 2000s.

[Yohshida]

Yep they stole it. Pretty shady if you ask me. This thing is huge on reddit with 2 posts on the front page

[nowitzki2004]

The guy doesnt own anything in the image though so MS stole nothing. Its kind of like Fortnite and PUBG they are not exactly the same so its ok to copy.

[Yohshida]

Do you think the AD would exist without him? No
Do you think Fortnite Battle Royale would exist without PUBG? No

[Elda]

LOL! Caught stealing.

[-Foxtrot]

ONCE...when I was 5

[The_Sage]

👆👆👆

[FunAndGun]

That was the only time you were caught. Tails always be stealing those rings like a klepto.

[Idree]

holy shit, pretty blatant

[ukjadoon]

They took it down and are investigating according to Major Nelson, here is the original Reddit thread,
https://www.reddit.com/r/PU...

[NotoriousWhiz]

That's like saying Nintendo can "steal" a Mario fan-game. No, they can't because fan games have no rights to the original IP. Nintendo would be wise to steal them, too (and hire the developers), but instead they just kill the project.

[rainslacker]

They usually can't steal a mario fan game because within that fan game is going to be code which was actually copyrighted by the person who made the fan game, or if all in engine stuff, is built in an engine that was licensed to another person, thus making any build of code that person's property.

They wouldn't need to steal the assets, they already own them. However, if the person made their own mario assets, they couldn't reuse those, however, they can prevent them from being used elsewhere....leaving out derivative work type stuff....which doesn't usually work with game designs.

[cfc83]

Stop making adverts in your spare time

[DillyDilly]

& one can say at the same time this person used images that Microsoft owns

[Software_Lover]

Everything they do is wrong. On to the next one.

[Sitdown]

Man, Microsoft must have really hurt you in the past. There is therapy for things like this, you just have to be willing.

[Software_Lover]

It was sarcasm.

[Sitdown]

Oops, my fault; that was such an authentic fanboy response. 🙄

[Kavorklestein]

I eat unborn hedgehog fetuses...
Oh.. don't worry, it was just Sarcasm.

[KickSpinFilter]

As a Graphic Designer myself, it's kind of a bummer MS creative didn't reach out to him and ask if they could use the concept, PR wise that would have been good also for MS.

[pyroxxx]

Nothing new,.. remember when they were referencing little big planet in the add for 360, music and everything,..

[Father__Merrin]

Why isn't it advertised with the one S

[ocelot07]

Am actually going with Microsoft here. Someone over their has probably seen it and thought we can do better. To be honest I think they did.

[RDOUBLE]

It's Microsofts console and game it's their right to use whatever marketing they find suitable. This guy who made a cool design has no ground to stand on. He didn't make the console or game so sorry him.

[rainslacker]

It comes down to if an idea itself is immediately copyrightable. In this case it isn't. If MS ripped off any original work this guy made.....say the grass itself, then yeah, he could maybe do something about it. But just having the idea of putting the grass on the console with a guy in it isn't something that falls under copyright itself.

So, for another example, Twix candy has their left and right ad campaign right now. But, if say Reese's Peanut butter cups wanted to use the same or similar idea, they could do that all day long, and nothing would be illegal about it. PC vs Mac commercials were a good example of this about a decade ago. Blatant rip off came, and they both went back and forth.

Even if this guy made the ad for another game that he owned, MS could have done the exact same thing for PUBG, and he wouldn't have a leg to stand on. It's not until the actual use of copyrighted material that it becomes a problem, and in this case, while I see striking similarities to say that someone likely saw this redditors creation when pitching/making the ad, since the final ad product is all original work owned by MS/PUBG, there is no actual infringement being done here.

[mastershredder]

lol you don’t own the rights and post it? ...lamer gamer day dreamer. Welcome to reality.

[RealOldGamer]

Wow. Lol yeah looks pretty stolen to me.

[showtimefolks]

Nothing new they used killszone shadowfall images to promote Xbox one launch on their Facebook page

[Kavorklestein]

Prove it.

Speaking of deceit...
Killzone... 2005...

Talk to me, buddy old pal

[showtimefolks]

http://www.pushsquare.com/n...

[Kavorklestein]

Thanks for the proof haha thanks for backing it up.

[Felsager]

Microsoft is desperate for news despite if they are bad or good.

If Microsoft throws a random fart they publish it in N4g through their minions.

It's obvious, Microsoft has no exclusives and no steam to keep the attach interest in their new hardware. They have to put some effort on the last Halo they have, good or bad, and start building exclusive studios. Otherwise they will end up repeating the same mistake in this generation.

[Veneno]

I wonder. Does it make a difference if the originator used/stole an Xbox One console graphic for his design?

[rainslacker]

Depends.

If MS used any original part of this guys art work, then yes, the guy could have some leg to stand on with copyright infringement, regardless of if he used copyrighted images himself. He himself made a derivative work, so is free from copyright infringement, however, he could be called out on DMCA, which is unlikely.

The actual premise of the idea of the ad(grass on console and image layout) is not copyright-able in and of itself. So, the IDEA of putting grass on the console like he did isn't what can be copyrighted. The grass he may have made, and it's application to the console via graphics processing(photoshop) along with any other original work within his image, is copyrightable.

How it's put together means nothing though. Anyone, original copyright holder or otherwise, is free to use the same design for personal or commercial use, assuming they use original work, or somehow work within the bounds of derivative work, or own the actual images used within their own work(as is the case here).

[Gh05t]

Stolen implies that there is some ownership in any way to anything on the "original" concept. An ad concept can not be owned or every car company and perfume company would be suing each other. The items in the "original" concept were not the persons to use. Nothing about this is by definition stealing. A more appropriate term would be "taken" and "Used".

TL:DR, He didnt "own" anything to be stolen.

[Relientk77]

Obviously stolen lol

[Godmars290]

@Disagrees:

Any chance whatsoever you can do more than mark "disagree"? Present some form of an argument or counterpoint? Be more than simply brand loyal and reactionary?

Ever since Halo kept OG Xbox from being a complete disaster, COD made the 360 dominate it's generation, FPS and online has become MS's overall focus for the division aside from easy access for PC gamers. Now microtransactions and unchecked system power are becoming a thing and that mentality is only hurting the industry. And that includes Sony and Nintendo. Still, because they've always been aware that there's more to the gaming market than the hardcore audience they continue to cater to the broader group and provide a more variant library whereas MS seems only concerned to what can get them the most money and/or attention

[zerocarnage]

News flash pal the others are only concerned about making money also, not just ms lol..

It was going well till you ended up trying to solely blame ms for basically wanting to make money, none of them would be in th industry if they didn't think there was no money in it for them.

[Godmars290]

Yes, they'll in it to make money. Thing is where Sony and Nintendo come off as being aware of entertainment, of giving something with initial purchases, MS comes off as tone deaf. MS will compromise a dev's work where the other wont.

[ILostMyMind]

Have stolen? No! Just copied. No problem here.

[gangsta_red]

Not saying that MS didn't steal this but the idea behind this ad is simple enough where it could be similar to having multiple discovery.

[ChristopherJack]

This anti-consumer position shared by many consumers is disturbing. It's as if no one gives a shit about Fair Use. "He copied MS & PUBG first!" Sorta, for non-commercial artistic purposes, he's probably not entitled to anything but it's outright scary that you, fellow consumers, believe he should be liable. Any reasonable company would at least acknowledge the effort if they're going to steal an idea- they don't have to though.

[Heart-hat-ack]

Many people in advertising don't achieve their ambitions through integrity and professionalism. Like many other industries, having the original idea counts for very little. That remains true regardless of whether MS have 'stolen' someones idea. If it's on the internet, or even just on your PC, then people have viewed it. I encrypt everything I wish to keep private, and don't use MS encryption. Something like Veracrypt may do.