ESA issues statement after claiming private Minecraft servers are ‘illegal’

Yesterday, we reported on comments made by an ESA representative during a court hearing proposing new game preservation laws, in which they claimed that private Minecraft servers were “illegal” and constituted “piracy”. The clip quickly went viral, prompting the ESA to issue additional clarification. 

In a follow‑up statement sent to us, the ESA says the representative was responding to a multi‑part question in which the committee used the terms “community server” and “private server” interchangeably. The organisation then provided the following clarification on its position:

“Private servers that host or distribute copyrighted game content without authorization infringe on the intellectual property (IP) rights of game publishers. While publishers may take different approaches, all publishers reserve the right to exercise their rights against IP infringement. The provision in CA AB 1921 that proposed these servers as a legitimate alternative to keep games running raises concerns about a publisher's ability to enforce their IP rights. In addition, private servers operate with no oversight from the publisher and do not uphold the same trust and safety standards. This could create an unsafe environment for players and be counter to the industry's commitment to fostering safe and fun game play for all players.”

KitGuru Says: Community hosted servers have existed since the earliest days of multiplayer gaming. I'm still not sure why that can't be a viable alternative even after the ESA's statement. It is a way to keep your game alive for generations without continued investment and I struggle to see how that isn't considered a win for publishers. 

Become a Patron!