Lately we have come across a few Gala Games imitation websites using our copyrighted images in order to gain referrals for node sales. While it is commonly said that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” we cannot allow the bad actors to continue to game the Gale Games Node Referrals system and violate our Terms & Conditions and Copyright rights. For reference purposes, here is an image from one such site:
The Consequences of Operating a Site Like the One Above, per our Terms & Conditions, range from suspension of the use of some or all services available in a user’s account to termination of a user’s right to access their account entirely.
We have decided that in the interest of good faith to issue the following warning:
We are giving all individuals who operate sites like the one above twenty-four (24) hours to either:
(a) take their site down
…or…
(b) rebrand their site to stop using Gala Games’ intellectual property/violating the Terms & Conditions.
Following the twenty-four (24) hour notice, we may begin to take the following steps at our own discretion:
(1) issue DMCA takedown letters to the website hosting providers
(2) issue cease and desist letters to the owners of these sites
(3) remove the ability of the owner of the infringing website to receive ANY node referral rewards — YES YOUR REFERRAL LINK DOES LEAD US DIRECTLY TO YOUR ACCOUNT
(4) take any other action that we deem necessary at the time.
We understand that many community members own and operate a number of amazing educational sites, and we do not want to deter those. As such, if you have any questions about a site that you own, please reach out to our Legal Exemplar on discord (JesseHynes#4661) or submit a ticket and we will get back to you ASAP.
We will only remove the ability to receive node referral rewards without first contacting the owner in what we determine are the most egregious of cases.
We encourage people to use our referral program for its intended purposes — which is generating legitimate referrals. Creating fake copies of websites does not help the ecosystem. Making guides, tutorials, summaries, help sites, etc., are great ways to support the Gala Games community, and also gives you a fair place to put your referral link for people to use.
Here are a Few Tips for Community Website Owners:
1. If you want to use a Gala Games image, ask permission, and at the very least provide credit or a cite.
2. Do not create a website that is meant to imitate Gala Games’ website in order to receive referrals.
3. When embedding your referral link into text or a “Call to Action” button, indicate that your referral link is embedded.
4. Do not promote Gala Games store items (whether NFTs or Gala Games Nodes or otherwise) as an investment and/or guarantee return on investment (especially when in conjunction with tip 2). As a reminder, Nodes are not Investments!
5. Be cool! We want to create an ecosystem that will change the gaming industry. Every time that a user decides to try to “earn an extra buck” by engaging in shady activities, you help to provide more examples for why people shouldn’t trust blockchain.
