If you've been paying attention to Roblox news over the past few days, chances are you've seen the unfortunate announcement surrounding the popular Roblox experience, Football Fusion. On Friday, Dec. 3, 2021 the NFL filed a DMCA takedown that removed the experience from Roblox's platform due to copyright issues involving likeness of names, logos, color and color combinations, uniform designs, slogans and other identifying trademarks of the NFL and its Member Clubs.
At the time of this article's publication, there has been no word as to if, or when, Football Fusion will return to Roblox.
What is a DMCA takedown?
A DMCA takedown is filed when a person or company feels as though their copyrighted content is being stolen and/or used without their permission. In the case of Football Fusion, official NFL Marks, as mentioned in the graph above, were used and displayed throughout the experience without the NFL's permission, and were bringing the developer compensation in return. Because of this, the NFL filed the DMCA to have the entire experience removed.
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Why did Football Fusion get removed?
Due to Football Fusion's direct similarities to the NFL and its use of infringing content, it was swiftly removed from Roblox's platform in its entirety. Even with this black and white answer, however, many players are still wondering why this experience, in particular, was removed when there are hundreds of experiences that still exist on the platform that utilize copyrighted content, likely without the permission of the owner. The answer to this question is quite simple, and it all comes back to brand collaborations.
As Pro Game Guides covered a few weeks ago, the NFL and Roblox have recently partnered up to create the interactive experience, NFL Shop. With this experience came a digital shop that features merchandise from every professional team in the league, along with a free NFL branded helmet. The experience also hints at a possible stadium expansion coming in the near future, where players could have the chance to compete in their own football games against strangers or friends.
Because of this deal, it can be inferred that the NFL is working to remove all unofficial likenesses from the Roblox platform in order to streamline all of the revenue that would have previously come from the infringed NFL-related avatar items and experiences, into their own content output.
Similar to when the Chipotle Boorito Maze was announced, companies are continuing to take notice of the massive amount of traffic and excitement that these Roblox crossovers can potentially garner. Soon, every company, artist, and creator that wants to remain relevant with younger audiences will need to begin making deals with Roblox in order to take the first leap into the metaverse.
