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Did Rockstar Use Pirate Game Code For Steam Max Payne 2?

According to an eagle-eyed game buyer, Rockstar could have caused themselves quite a bit of embarrassment when they made Max Payne 2 available on Steam. A close examination of the game’s executable reveals that it contains the ASCII text logo of game piracy group Myth.

Back in 2008 we reported that software giant Ubisoft had embarrassed themselves by getting a little closer to the piracy world than they would’ve liked.

Due to DRM problems with Rainbow Six: Vegas2, Ubisoft uploaded a patch which they said would fix the problem. However, an enterprising individual ran it through a HEX editor and discovered that the fix was not Ubisoft code, but actually a no-CD crack released by the Scene group RELOADED.

Now, just under 2 years later, it seems that Rockstar have some similar embarrassing questions to answer.

According to a game buyer on the official Steam forums, the executable for Max Payne 2 available via the digital distribution platform has a rather unexpected easter egg inside.

Apparently, if one examines the code with a HEX editor, the ASCII logo of the Scene group Myth can be viewed, as per the screenshot below;

Myth1

A clearer version of its ASCII logo included in Myth’s NFOs can be seen below;

Myth 2

At this point it is unclear why the logo exists in the release. Myth was a Scene group which ceased to exist after it was targeted in the FBI “Operation Site Down” raids in 2005. The speculation is that rather than program a no-CD version, the easy route of using a ready-made crack was taken by Rockstar instead.

It’s unlikely the company will explain, but we’ll try to find out.

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  • Mr.Afghanistan

    Did Rockstar Use Pirate Game Code For Steam Max Payne 2???

    Who cares :P ?

  • DataDuden

    Game companies probably examines cracked versions of their games?

  • JerryG

    Cracked versions of their games must be a cheap way for them to fix their own screwups.

    I doubt they’ll explain, but they definitely should own up to it and give props to the scene group that did the work for them…..

  • Torin050

    @3 Agreed.

  • Anonymous

    But that’s STEALING! Shame on you Rockstar.

  • z33kr

    Stealing code/logo from scene releasers is a violation of copyright, even if the group have ceased to exist.

  • John Down

    Isn’t that copyright infringement?

  • steve

    Myth didn’t own the code in the first place so no it’s not copyright infringement :P

  • wonderwhy-er

    Ahaha epic fail story!!!

  • Kolky

    I think #8 is right! And why have people work on a fix if there’s already one out there!

  • Pingback: Rockstar – Y’a une MYTH dans le potage

  • adam

    Myth own the (c) to their logo at minimum.

    Whether or not they own the code they themselves created to crack someone else’s code is a question for lawyers and judges.

  • phishybongwaters

    Well you might be missing the bigger picture, most of these release groups, those that pre-release stuff, obviously have a hand somewhere in the production/distribution line to get early leaks.

    Crackers are quite talented, and would most likely be employed as programmers.

    See where I’m headed? It’s quite possible someone involved in development is part of the scene or has contacts with the scene. The scene, while claiming to hate publicity, loves leaving tags on everything they work on. Could it be that in this case, a member or friend of Myth slipped that in there?

    I’d be surprised if a game developer grabbed a crack online and then used it, as game code, with out at least LOOKING at the code, right? Either they are lazy, to the point of it being dangerous (what if the unchecked crack was a trojan, there goes your steam account nfo right?) or this was no accident, and the only accident is that anyone bothered to check.

    As a programmer ,there is no way I’d steal code to begin with, let alone use it in a professional setting, without examining the code.

  • Anon

    #8 and #10, that doesn’t matter. We’re talking about the logo and not the code itself. Rockstar is infringing on Myth copyright on their logo, which is BAAAD!

  • phishybongwaters

    ps. using a scene logo, which is NOT copyrighted, or code, which is not copyrighted, in no way violates copyright. You have to OWN the copyright for that to take effect.

  • phishybongwaters

    this is why people wanting copyright reform are looked on as idiots, because half of you that would be posting demanding fair copyright, don’t even understand what a copyright is.

    Just because something exists doesn’t mean it’s copyrighted, you have to apply for, be granted, and PAY, for the copyright.

  • Mhm?

    @15

    and you fail to realize there is more to the world than the us. Now you’re the moron.

  • wykydtron

    The irony falls full circle. -_-

  • Yinchie

    Not really, anything you made is copyrighted by you.

    myows.com

  • Anonymous

    lol
    lol
    lollol
    LOL
    LOLOLOLOL
    LOOOOOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

  • Iarp

    Just another way a company is profiting from pirates.

  • Deville

    I think most of the comments were ironic…

    @12: plausible explanation.

  • GP

    @15
    You’re wrong. Copyright is implicity granted to the author of any work created. There is no need to register, pay, or do anything other than create something, in order to own the copyright to that something.

    See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_registration

  • Thraprod

    The others are correct. Copyright is implicit. Perhaps you are thinking of a Patent which must be applied/approved/paid for, which is a whole different can of worms. Patents aren’t really much of a problem. Copyright on the other hand… If I a little cartoon dog (so long as it doesn’t look TOO much like someone else’s cartoon dog) and don’t bother to put a Creative Commons symbol on it, then is it Copyrighted by default.

  • Yarick

    So what they have essentially done is taken credit for the plagiarization of code that was created by some one else, in order to profit from it, and not credited them for it, or compensated them in anyway. It’s not okay for anyone to mess with their software, but it’s perfectly fine for them to mess with, sell, and profit from the work of some one else.

    I don’t know about you all but I seem to smell a double standard here. The sad thing is they will probably get away with it too.

  • Pingback: Max Embarassment: Max Payne 2 Steam | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

  • Brian G.

    @23 a creative commons license doesn’t keep your work from being protected by a copyright implicitly granted to you, it provides an easy way for you to LICENCE that copyright under the terms of the CC License (such as attribute, no commercial). CC just provides an easy canned licensing scheme.

  • Alex

    You cannot copyright text put into a shape. Maybe if it was a proper picture logo, it may mean something, but for it to be text, you cannot copyright that.

  • Widget

    @26 Alex, yes you can.

    For example, this TorrentFreak article is copyrighted. If I went and posted it word-for-word somewhere else, even with a link back to the original, it would be copyright infringement (though it’s unlikely anyone would go after me for it).

    You could even go the step further with this scene logo, because even though it’s stored in text format, it’s still low-resolution pixel art, in the graphical sense. They could have well opened mspaint and made this logo and it would have the same copyright protections as this text format.

    Also, TF, I’d like to see the first screenshot while its using DOS/ASCII encoding instead of UTF-8 or whatever it decided the executable should be :)

  • 12312324

    Bah who cares Rockstar are a great games publisher anyway, let them away with it! ;)

  • The_Terminator

    They could probably copyright their logo. But for that to hold up in court, they’d have to prove that they owned the copyright for it, which they wouldn’t be able to do easily. Thats why you can register (and, yes, pay for) copyright – so it can be easily proved. There are other ways too (look up poor man’s copyright), but they are much less reliable.

    As for the code… my understnading of copyright law is that the crack is a derivative work using Rockstar’s original code, and therefore it is covered by the game’s EULA – much like a mod.

  • TerribleTony

    I suppose if it works it’s fine.

    I bought both GTA4 and recently EFLC for the PC, and for all that time I have not been able to access legitimate mulitplayer games. Their code tells me of “modified files” and Rockstar Support is so shoddy they don’t even have a ticket system.

    Plus, they never solved my problem, and stopped communicating with me, not before getting me to send them evidence that I did not have any modified files.

    Now after my possibly 16th installation, I seem to have access again, but for how long I dare not care to guess (it usually lasts one day, and then they somehow mark me as a pirate and force me to play multiplayer with cheaters and vehicle spawners).

    Thanks R*, your games rule, but your DRM sucks, as does your laughingly-titled support desk.

  • Pingback: Produtoras e o uso de cracks “no-cd” em seus jogos « Meio Bit

  • Mbb

    Well Rockstar is an Awesome COmpany, they even allow mods on GTA4 and EFLC, with mods you can only join other modders but you cant join other non-modders, thats great so people wont complaine out someone that is using mods because R* place them in separate servers

  • disco

    MYTH should totally sue Rockstar for stealing their code.

  • Ben Hurr

    Regardless of whether MYTH could actually sue for having their logo and code in Max Payne 2, the problem is boiled down to this:

    a. A large company plagarized someone else’s work to fix their broken product, without permission, compensation, or credit for said work.

    That sounds awfully close to IP infringement.

    b. The fact that the logo is present means they didn’t look it over before using it, at all.

    c. It could be filled with not so nice software: ie shit that steals your steam account info.

  • Doink

    hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

    now that is funny.

  • dotted

    #15 You are an idiot, you automatically gain copyright on any work you create. You are in no way required to register anything to get copyright.

  • Someone

    You all fail to understand why the groups create the no-cd cracks.

    They are providing everyone, the legit buyers included, with a way to play their games without the need to carry a box of discs around. Very good for laptop owners.

    The crackers are not profiting with it. Rockstar has all the right to use their work.

    This should’n even be news…

  • Fitz

    It’s quite astonishing how few people here understand even the basics of a) what copyright even is and b) the laws governing it.

  • Anonymous

    @36 Wrong.

    Myth’s code and logo belongs to Myth.
    Rockstar clearly profits from Max Payne 2 on steam. Which means that Myth could sue them for damages in quite a few juristrictions -despite Myth not having suffered any loss. If nothing else Myth could force them to stopusing their code and logo.
    Furthermore the state could fine Rockstar for the copyright violation.

    While Myth isn’t going to sue Rockstar, it’s against just about any scenes groups code to allow thirdparties to sell their stuff.

    From a pro-piracy standpoint you’re right, it’s ok that a company sell crack with it’s software, but then again it’d be ok for the pirates to sell the game with their crack.

    When Rockstar fights piracy and sharing of their games, -they might even have had a role in Myth being stopped, it’s clearly inexcusable for them to pirate someone elses work.

  • Ricardo

    It doesnt matter if it was copyright infringment or not. What is important is that tey used code from the group.

    The game code is owned by rockstar, but the code made to crack it is Myth’s work.

  • phishybongwaters

    the code a given group “writes” is merely a modification of the code the game developers wrote. In most cases, they are merely REMOVING stuff. In some newer drm schemes they are faking stuff.

    either way the code does not belong to the group that reverse engineered and modified it.

    If the group, on the other hand, built from the ground up, a game loader, then that code belongs to that release group.

    In relation to the logo, unless they trademarked the logo, i think it’s fair game.

    And to answer the people thinking they understand copyright, let me post this info up for you, as cut and pasted from “Canadian Intellectual Property Office” where you need to register in Canada:

    “Although copyright in a work exists automatically when an original work is created, a certificate of registration is evidence that your creation is protected by copyright and that you, the person registered, are the owner. It can be used in court as evidence of ownership.”

    Yes, copyright is implied on any work created. IMPLIED. That doesn’t stand up in court unless you can prove you created the work, which is why you have to register the copyright. The “moral” copyright code does not stand up in court.

    And the work you are attempting to copyright has to be yours, not stolen from the game developers.

    Myth, in regards to the logo and the code, have no leg to stand on in the courts eyes. They are not a registered company. They are, according to the law, a criminal organization. The logo is an unregistered work and not trademarked, so anyone can steal it. beyond that, do they own the copyright on the font used? Doubtful.

    Do you honestly think you can copyright the formula you invented for crystal meth?

    the lesson kiddies, is copyright law is fubared, regardless of what side of the debate you are on, it’s totally screwed.

    And really, regarding Myth, all we have is a logo in hex, no one has released code comparisons to actually prove rockstar used a myth supplied crack, would only take a few clicks to run them both through a hex editor and examine them, as the game company should have if they indeed used a crack from another game release.

  • rakiru

    @39
    …and that is why everyone is talking about copyright infringement. That’s kinda what it is.

  • NIGRA

    Since when was Notepad++ a hex editor.

  • lol

    Bullet proof evidence that anti-piracy DRM technology doesn’t work.

    Do not try your pathetic excuses, this is a fact now.

    It also proves that these crackers are uber leet.

  • Scavenger

    Anyway, you’re ALL wrong, because Myth even stole their logo: http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/0/89360_41500_front.jpg

  • Anonymous

    @42, it is

    I hope Myth backdoored that code back then

  • Anonymous

    Myth own’s the code that circumvented the games DRM, and I am unsure, but they was probably charged with circumventing that games DRM, then the company goes on and uses the crack them selves, that seems a bit… Wrong? Sure the company owns the games code it self, but they can NOT own code written by someone else.

    BTW, the Myth logo, and that game logo, to me, seem to be different, same name, yes, but, different style it seems. To me anyways.

  • Iversen

    @40 clearly you don’t know half of what you think you know, otherwise you wouldn’t compare (ascii) ART to a FORMULA.

    A FORMULA CAN’T BE COPYRIGHTED!
    ART IS ALWAYS COPYRIGHTED!

    Even when the art is piss poor or illegal. Say make an cover of Poker Face by Lady Gaga. It sucks and I didn’t secure the rights, so I can’t publish it -but the copyright is still mine, Lady Gaga can not put my cover on her next album as a joke. And as it isn’t Myth that’s trying to sell their Logo the fonts copyright has absolutely no importance.

    Also why do you cite a Canadian copyright authority? Rockstar is American, and in most cases an infringer can get sued by the copyrightholder where he lives -i.e. a country where you might not even be able to register a copyrighted work.

    Furthermore it shouldn’t matter wether or not the artist/MYTH will take it to court. Or if Myth would be able to prove their identity.

    The fact remains that ROCKSTAR =/= MYTH or the artist behind the logo.
    UNLESS ROCKSTAR CAN COUGH UP A LICENSE LICENSE FOR USING THE WORK OF MYTH, THEY CAN’T USE IT!
    Simple as that.

    Rockstar can’t hold the moral high ground when it comes to fighting piracy, when they are in fact pirating others work themself.

    If Rockstar believes copyright infringement is ok as long as one can get away with it, then it invalidates Take-Two’s “piracy is evil” policy.

    Thus Rockstar ought to remove any thridparty code and art they haven’t got the license for.

  • Iversen

    @44 Samt WORD – not the same piece of art…

  • Dobbie

    Guys this talk about Myth possibly suing , or even that they would even consider for more than a nano-second, is pretty silly. On so many different levels.

  • SomKen

    Does anyone else think that the Scene has / is part of the big game people? Just a thought.

  • Unauthorized Content Consumer

    Not nice.

  • Anonymous

    Rockstar is a member of the ESA

    The ESA lobbies for anti-circumvention laws which makes this story all the more ironic. While simultaneously supporting this lobby groups actions, Rockstar is using some scene groups crack for a no-cd version of the game rather than making their own. Hilarity! bookmarked, screenshot, printed and redistributing this article for further laughter.

    Awesome article torrent freak and good eye to the reader who found this.

  • Stephen

    Copyright infringement doesn’t need identical or complete copying, you just need to copy a “substantial part” of the design to infringe the copyright. (It stops people changing two words in a book and selling their own copies)

  • Alex

    such a greedy and lazy people on rockstar…

    At least we know they admitted that pirated version is simply a better version than their own original version!

  • Pingback: Anonymous

  • Ninja

    ROFLMAO!! And I thought Ubisoft was the jackass of the millennium… There are things only DRM can do for you…. lol

  • NOP

    While the no-cd crack may contain some of rockstar’s code, it still contains the circumvention code written by MYTH’s team members. This is the problem.

    People saying that it’s okay because it’s still Rockstar’s code have no fucking idea how cracks work.

  • Anonymous

    Whats up with all these idiots #47 thinking R* needs any license.
    1) its their game and they own any and all rights to it.
    2) myth is just reusing R* code and just patching a few offsets in the code.
    3)R* can use whatever it wants, and lol about all this suing bullshit, find something else to cry for.

  • LOL

    someone should sue them for copyright infringement lol

  • T@rmenteD

    Sue Them ppl for copyright infringement !

  • QW

    @44 – Yes, Myth appropriated the logo from Bungie’s ‘Myth: The Fallen Lords’ box. The graphic is certainly copyright, and it is highly likely that Bungie own that copyright.
    Now we’re not talking about what is right, or wrong, or what will actually happen. But in a strict interpretation of law, the Max Payne release *unquestionably* infringes on this copyright.

    I also think that it’s completely unreasonable to profit from work that someone else went to jail for, whatever the law says.

  • another one

    In the USA you have copyright on something you create the moment you create it. Registering it is an easy way to “authenticate your date of creation” if the point ever comes up.

    If it ever goes to court for some reason, and some bozo copied and registered your stuff that you didn’t, you are going to be at a big disadvantage. But you can still win if you can prove that you had made yours first. IANAL, but I have seen articles over the years on these exact things popping up ITRW.

    As to the whole scene thing. Their logo is copyrighted by them, but probably not registered, but it’s very well known and wouldn’t be a problem to prove in court. Their code is also copyrighted, but again probably not registered, and it’s got their name/logo all over it. Without some kind of agreement from it’s creators, Rockstar is in fact stealing code and as such, is breaking the law. It doesn’t matter that the code was produced for an illicit reason and use, it still belongs to someone else. It doesn’t matter that it modifies the functions of someone else’s code, the code for the patch belongs to it’s creators, same as the code for the game belongs to it’s creators.

    If someone mugs you and takes your money, that’s illegal. If someone else comes along and mugs the previous mugger, that’s still illegal, possibly ironic, but illegal.

    I’m really shocked at how often companies will steal other peoples code just because they think they can get away with it.

  • Barbzilla

    Okay two things;

    1) Copyright infringement on the logo can, in fact, be sued over (and in all probability won). Since copyright is inferred when the work is created, all that needs to be done is for Myth to prove that they used the logo well before Rockstar used it. Which wouldn’t be too hard to do.

    2) Code infringement on the other hand would not fly in court. Because the code that was written modified the source code of another users intellectual IP without express consent. Meaning that the code after being created would actually belong to Rockstar.

  • fred

    Its like stealing a lockpick from a person that tried to break into your house

  • eqagunn

    Update:
    They’ve stealth patched out the logo in maxpayne2.exe, which is a shame. But if anyone of you want to see the logo first hand, just open the testapp.exe, it’s in there too, and they forgot to update that.

  • .:nimbAdmin:.

    If you don’t know you know! Myth ftw :D

  • Soundwave

    #12 – phishybongwaters

    I quite agree with the last part about this being careless and dangerous.

    I think this is more of a lone programmer working for Rockstar who thought he could simply use someone else’s code and claim credit. Makes his job easier, right?

    I think obviously Rockstar (as a whole) wouldn’t have made this call.

  • Iversen

    @56 …. learn to read.
    ART =/= CODE, I was preimarily talking about about Rockstar using Myth’s logo.

    Also wether or not the crack code is protected by copyright is actually up for debate.

    Should Myth, unlikely as it is, sue Rockstar then depending on the complexity of their crack and the legislation in the nation they might sue from they could very well have a case.

  • Pingback: Rockstar Uses Crack for Max Payne 2 on Steam - Kit Guru community

  • purple durple

    maybe someone from the old myth group now works for rockstar and thought it would be funny to put this in

  • Gah

    This is bunk.

    I have the steam version of Max Payne 2, and it doesn’t have the logo in the executable.

  • TerribleTony

    @31 Did you not read my post immediately prior to yours? You are praising the very system that produces false positives for legitimate paying customers like myself.

  • DM

    weird i can only find the iso version from DEViANCE, rockstar must have some epic archives

  • Gill Bates

    It’s funny how childish and hypocritical most of you are. While you (and me as well) are downloading pirated games, movies etc. which are copyrighted material, you are complaining about a cracked EXE with a logo. Gimme a break guys, I know you are being sarcastic (I HOPE YOU ARE!) because otherwise I hvae to agree with companies; “pirates” / average donwloaders are just dumb bunch of idealistic losers.

  • Whatever

    Probably cheaper to get your copy of the Myth code and logo from bittorrent than from steam. :-)

    @40 You’re wrong.
    Almost anything expressed (indeed not a formula as mentioned), even all comments here, are copyrighted. So the Myth code (modifications or patch) are too. It’s like a ‘performing’ artist having copyright on the ‘performed’ work.

    (a lot to read going through 2 weeks of articles, almost there)

  • witalit

    Brilliant, Myth used to own! Shame they got raided stupid FBI.. love how the underground crack scene runs its criptic sometimes!

  • Pingback: Rumor: Sega bate as botas, liquidação de jogos no Steam | Rumble Pack

  • hnp

    myth guys were great in the old days.
    this article brings back some nice memories.

    on another note, i think some ex-members are working as developers in ubisoft.

  • Aeon

    @ 7
    Why yes. it is indeed. Copyright begins at production. The second Myth created it, it was copyrighted content regardless of legality.

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