Little Big Planet Levels Being Deleted Due To Copyright Issues

Complaints are growing about levels being "moderated" out of existence.

Before saving your cutsom created map in Little Big Planet, make sure that it doesn't contain copyrighted material

It seems Guitar Hero World Tour isn't the only game dealing with copyright infringements. As Kotaku reports, complaints are spreading across the official Little Big Planet forum, with players' arguing that their custom levels are being "moderated" -- or, to use less euphemistic language, "deleted forevermore" -- without warning or much explanation from Media Molecule. But there seems to be one common thread tying together many of the deleted levels: use of copyrighted materials.

"This just happened to tons of levels in what seems like a matter of minutes, including my own level 'Failure To Launch,'" wrote one user in a Little Big Workshop thread. "By the trend I see from the levels I can no longer play from my recent levels on my planet, it's all about copyright. Some levels I've seen [that are] now unplayable due to moderation: Pacman, Batman, and Scrubs related level."

Indeed, these players have had to piece together this "trend," as one of the bigger problems is a lack of explanation from Media Molecule when a level is deleted. "We're reviewing the moderating system currently to provide better feedback on why levels are moderated," a Media Molecule developer later wrote in that same thread. "Primarily, any level that is reported using the grief tool will be checked over by a moderator, at which point they'll examine it in line with the [End User License Agreement]. If a level is found to be in violation of the EULA it will be moderated and you'll receive a message to that effect. We're moving towards a system where additional information is given, however for the time being if you don't want your level moderating avoid anything unsuitable for users of all ages and copyright content."

Another problem with Media Molecule's system is that it doesn't give a user a chance to change whatever copyrighted (or otherwise delete-worthy) material exists in their level in order to keep the rest of the level online; the whole thing simply gets deleted entirely, and users can't alter and re-host them. This has already spurred at least one user to figure out a workaround, explaining that you can copy a created level to another slot of your "My Moon" page, and host the original version. If that version then gets deleted, you'll still have a second version to alter and try to re-host.

While it's understandable that copyrighted materials would be barred from use in players' levels, the main problem here seems to be a lack of consistency and fairness -- you can imagine how frustrating it could be to spend hours working on a perfectly envisioned level, only to have it deleted without warning because, as one player wrote, they had a Metal Gear Solid character appearing in it. Hopefully Media Molecule will come through soon, and get a better "moderating" system in place.

And really, even when it does come to the use of copyrighted materials, you kind of have to wonder: If Burnout Paradise can not (wink, wink) add the Back to the Future Time Machine into their game, surely there can be some leniency in what can and can't be used in Little Big Planet? We imagine a level containing the image of a vaguely familiar super spy wearing a bandana and eye patch and smoking a cigarette, with a large sign over his head that helpfully identifies him as "Not Solid Snake."