I got a weird message from a buyer

[yogevsharabi]

So I got a new message, and the request itself seems pretty straightforward. However, there is one thing that bothers me, the beginning of the message.

“Hey there, I ripped a video game character for strictly personal use”. Is that legal? Is it against Fiverr’s terms of service? Should I report the buyer?

[zreine]

Touchy one. If it’s truly for personal use, no problem on the buyer’s part. I could make myself a Pokemon game using pokemon game’s assets and there would be no problem as long as I don’t post it online or make money out of it…but he could be lying. For you however I don’t know, because if you take the order…technically you make money out of it. I think I would contact the CS and ask them, then they’ll decide what they do with that.

[yogevsharabi]

Touchy one. If it’s truly for personal use, no problem on the buyer’s part. I could make myself a Pokemon game using pokemon game’s assets and there would be no problem as long as I don’t post it online or make money out of it…but he could be lying. For you however I don’t know, because if you take the order…technically you make money out of it. I think I would contact the CS and ask them, then they’ll decide what they do with that.

The problem with contacting CS, is that it takes time for them to reply. Some people have said it took 2-3 weeks for CS to get back to them, especially during COVID.

[benedictrm]

It comes down to what a) they want you to do and b) what they intend doing with the IP

As Ze Queen said, if it is purely private, in their own home, no real dramas. The moment they start sharing it with friends, reselling it to others, make a YouTube vlog mascot… you can end up in the firing line.

It might be better to get a clear statement from them as to what this is about to cover yourself as technically this seems against TOS, not only of Fiverr but the game they are stealing from. We know Fiverr are very tough on breaking game TOSes.

🙂