There are many controversies surrounding the development and launch of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition. Few were as impactful as publisher Take-Two's efforts to squash the modding community's efforts surrounding Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. However, at least one group of Grand Theft Auto mod developers is pushing back, fighting a lawsuit filed by Take-Two in September.
The ReGTA mod team was hit by a DMCA takedown in February, earlier this year, following the launch of its Re3 and reVC mods for Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. ReGTA countered the DMCA notice to re-release its mods, only for Take-Two to file a lawsuit against the team. Now ReGTA's attorneys have officially issued a response to Take-Two's complaint, as reported by TorrentFreak. In doing so, ReGTA has asserted it has committed no copyright infringement, whatsoever.
Take-Two's claims against ReGTA broadly insist that the modding team uploaded and distributed "derivative software code" containing Take-Two's original content including "text, character dialogue, and certain game assets." Further, that these derivative files, in effect, create versions of Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City that are "virtually identical" to the original games. As such, Take-Two is accusing ReGTA of the creation and distribution of pirated games.
ReGTA's rebuttal states that all of the content included in both the Re3 and reVC mods is protected by fair use law. The crux of ReGTA's argument is that all content released by the team requires copies of either Grand Theft Auto 3 or Grand Theft Auto: Vice City to play. They are entirely inoperable on their own. Further, ReGTA says it profits in no way from its offerings, which is a key part of fair use.
Another key part of ReGTA's counterargument is that the United States Copyright Act should not be applied to the case at all. That's because the "Plaintiffs" within the ReGTA mod development team do not live within the United States or its territories. As such, ReGTA's representation says that Take-Two's claims should be barred.
The situation moves forward at a particularly challenging moment for Take-Two. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition criticism remains at a peak. A lengthy lawsuit against a popular modding community that, despite Take-Two's claims, appears to be genuine in its claims to be within the spirit of Fair Use, is only going to breed further contempt -- never mind threatening the legality of game modding, in general. If Take-Two's apparent goal in the first place was to avoid comparisons between the Trilogy and impressive mods, the lawsuit comes across as counter-intuitive, at its simplest. It'll be interesting to see where Take-Two goes from here.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.