Star Control: Origins is currently unavailable for purchase on both Steam and GOG, after Paul Reiche III and Robert Frederick Ford issued a DMCA takedown notice against the game.
Star Control: Origins maker Stardock is stuck in a legal dispute over the trademarks and copyrights to Star Control. Reiche and Ford, who are the designers of Star Control 2, claims that Atari has gave up the rights to the Star Control series a decade ago before selling it to Stardock. But based on recent court documents, it revealed that Ford and Reiche may instead have conflicting rights to the Star Control IP.
The DMCA shields online service providers from liability for copyright infringement, provided that they comply with the statute’s notice and takedown process. For an example, if a copyright holder sends a notification of infringement, a service provider must remove allegedly infringing content. If the affected subscriber files a counter-notification, the service provider must replace the content, unless the copyright holder files an action seeking a court order to restrain the subscriber. In response to Reiche and Ford’s DMCA notifications, GOG and Valve complied to the DMCA notice and removed Stardock’s promotional content from their platforms.
