Steam denied an indie developer the publication of a game demo due to a violation of its own copyright
The Japanese indie developer Daikichi_EMP announced that he encountered an unexpected issue when trying to release a demo of his new game on Steam—Wired Tokyo 2007. The moderators did not approve it, citing a copyright violation. However, according to Daikichi_EMP, the rights in question belong not to someone else, but to himself.
Wired Tokyo 2007
The developer shared his story on X. He explained that the Steam team found content in the Wired Tokyo 2007 demo that was borrowed from a "dinosaur card game." Daikichi_EMP confirmed the borrowing but pointed out that it was a reference to his previous game titled Dinostone, meaning there was no violation.
According to Daikichi_EMP, he attempted to clarify the situation to the moderators, but without success. In response to his appeal, they requested documents to prove the ownership of the copyrights, such as a legal opinion or a licensing agreement. Without these, Steam continues to refuse to publish the demo. This requirement left the developer perplexed, as he had no such documents on hand. Daikichi_EMP added that while he could try to consult with lawyers, their services are too costly for an indie developer.
Ultimately, Daikichi_EMP decided to take a simpler approach. He drafted a document granting himself permission to use his own works and sent it to the Steam moderators. The developer hopes this will suffice.
It is noteworthy that the author of Wired Tokyo 2007 showed the moderators his "permission" three days ago, but no changes have occurred as of yet.