{"id":61713,"date":"2026-03-04T14:20:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T05:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=61713"},"modified":"2026-03-04T14:20:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T05:20:48","slug":"cult-1999-japanese-pc-game-cookies-bustle-finally-freed-from-years-of-copyright-abuse-video-game-history-foundation-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/cult-1999-japanese-pc-game-cookies-bustle-finally-freed-from-years-of-copyright-abuse-video-game-history-foundation-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"Cult\u00a01999\u00a0Japanese PC game Cookie\u2019s Bustle finally\u00a0\u201cfreed\u00a0from\u00a0years of copyright abuse,\u201d\u00a0Video\u00a0Game History Foundation reports\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a statement from the Video Game History Foundation<\/a>, it was announced that the 1999 game Cookie\u2019s Bustle from Japanese developer Rodik has at last been freed from the hands of a copyright troll who has been crusading to scrub all traces of the game from the internet for the past several years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cookie\u2019s Bustle is a bizarre adventure game where players step into the shoes of Cookie Blair, a young girl who takes on the appearance of a cartoonish bear, and guide her through a surreal adventure that features extreme sports, political intrigue, shocking bursts of violence, and aliens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting in 2022, archival uploads of the game itself alongside videos, screenshots, fanart, community mods, and even Discord chat messages have been at the mercy of DMCA content takedown notices on behalf of a company known as Graceware, SL or sometimes, an individual allegedly named Brandon White. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image via Surugaya<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite no evidence that Graceware actually exists as a company in any capacity, White was able to use the services of a UK trade group called Ukie to file the takedowns on his and his \u201ccompany\u2019s\u201d behalf. Ukie charges only \u00a360 per month to provide services for small companies, making this method surprisingly affordable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Video Game History Foundation was targeted by one of these\u00a0dubious takedown attempts, they chose to\u00a0stand\u00a0their ground. With help from a legal professional, they\u00a0determined\u00a0that the \u201cCopyright registrations\u201d filed by White were made through a private German company called INTEROCO, which holds no legal\u00a0jurisdiction\u00a0in any country or region. Further investigation into INTEROCO by the Foundation\u00a0reportedly\u00a0yielded\u00a0dubious findings, including a lack of regulation on potential abuse and undisclosed fees for their services.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Foundation\u2019s next step was to take these findings to Ukie, and inquire as to whether there was any legally substantive proof of White being Cookie\u2019s Bustle\u2019s copyright holder. Ukie, fearing potential implication in what amounts to fraudulent abuse of copyright law, answered that they would inquire with White and Graceware for clarification on Cookie\u2019s Bustle\u2019s copyright status. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the precise details of\u00a0what\u00a0went on behind the scenes between\u00a0Ukie\u00a0and\u00a0Graceware\u00a0are a matter of speculation,\u00a0Ukie\u00a0finally came back\u00a0over a\u00a0month later to notify the Video Game History Foundation that it would no longer be serving DMCA takedown notices on behalf of\u00a0Graceware, and have effectively ended their relationship\u00a0with\u00a0them. Without a major trade organization\u00a0like\u00a0Ukie\u00a0supporting him,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0unlikely White and his\u00a0supposed company\u00a0Graceware\u00a0will be able to continue their crusade against Cookie\u2019s Bustle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rodik, the original\u00a0creators\u00a0of Cookie\u2019s Bustle, seem to have quietly closed their doors\u00a0some time\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0early 2000s.\u00a0A\u00a0legal notice<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0their\u00a0(now defunct) website\u00a0states that the\u00a0company ceased development and sales of software as of June 25, 2001.\u00a0However, Rodik\u00a0maintained their legal rights to their formerly published\u00a0work, and\u00a0reserved the right to press charges against anyone illegally copying, distributing, or otherwise infringing on their ownership rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image via Nico Nico Douga<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Humorously, one of the listed hypothetical examples of infringement\u00a0is that of a\u00a0\u201cself-proclaimed CG creator\u00a0that\u00a0falsely claimed image data from Cookie\u2019s Bustle as his own creation, and illegally displayed copyright notices using his own nickname and trade name (…) without permission\u00a0from the software rights holder,\u201d\u00a0which is eerily similar to what ended up happening nearly over 20 years later with Brandon White and\u00a0Graceware.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Rodik evidently out of business \u2013 their website\u2019s domain is now owned by a New York real estate company of the same name \u2013 the true owner of the game\u2019s copyright remains unclear, relegating it to the legal gray-area status of \u201cabandonware.\u201d Unless an actual publisher can prove they\u2019ve secured the rights, an official rerelease of the game is unlikely. But at the very least, this development should mean netizens are free to share whatever Cookie\u2019s Bustle-related material they like without fear of takedowns or legal harassment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related articles:<\/strong>\u00a0US publisher \u201ccalls dibs\u201d on Japanese fighting game IP in original creator\u2019s absence, asserts ownership even within Japan<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From shooting your neighbors with baked fish missiles to flipping off\u202fcult members: 5 Japanese high-octane\/crazy indie games\u202f<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An individual had been trying to erase all traces of Cookie\u2019s Bustle online through DMCA takedowns with seemingly no legal basis, but this has come to an end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":61716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-61713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nCult\u00a01999\u00a0Japanese PC game Cookie\u2019s Bustle finally\u00a0\u201cfreed\u00a0from\u00a0years of copyright abuse,\u201d\u00a0Video\u00a0Game History Foundation reports\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An individual had been trying to erase all traces of Cookie\u2019s Bustle online through DMCA takedowns with seemingly no legal basis.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/cult-1999-japanese-pc-game-cookies-bustle-finally-freed-from-years-of-copyright-abuse-video-game-history-foundation-reports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cult\u00a01999\u00a0Japanese PC game Cookie\u2019s Bustle finally\u00a0\u201cfreed\u00a0from\u00a0years of copyright abuse,\u201d\u00a0Video\u00a0Game History Foundation reports\u00a0 - 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