A Starcraft II modder known as ‘Ryan’ recently had to remove several YouTube videos of an SC II modification that he was working on after he was notified that he had violated copyright. The mod, named World of Starcraft, and the video removal are currently still under discussion with Blizzard. However Ryan was contacted yesterday by Riot Games, the developer of MMO League of Legends, with an offer to discuss a development position based on his work.
Tom Caldwell, a former World of Warcraft developer and current League of Legends design director, confirmed on the LoL forums that the offer has been extended to the modder. “When I see a modder with a lot of drive that has done something cool, I tend to contact them. I shot him an email recently asking if he was interested in exploring an opportunity here. As to what comes of that, who knows -- that depends on the mutual fit and his own goals”
The video takedown that has catapulted Ryan into the spotlight seems to have been the result of a misinterpretation of his work. Ryan posted, “The Deputy General Council from Blizzard contacted me last night to discuss the details of the "World of Starcraft" project. We talked for a while and apparently some people from Blizz were concerned I was developing the game somehow outside of SC2. Anyways I explained the details of the project to him and made it clear this mod was to be developed within SC2. After that was clear he obviously wanted the name to be changed”.
“I am fully respectful of Blizzard's Intellectual property, and they DO in fact own a copyright on "World of Starcraft" and have EVERY RIGHT to do what they did”
Brett Venter
