A game that has been missing since 1999 has been rescued from a troll who kept preventing its preservation

The controversy surrounding the PC game Cookie’s Bustle, released in 1999, has gained momentum following a DMCA campaign carried out by the company Graceware. The company, which has not provided evidence of its ownership of the game, has been targeting not only pirated copies but also legitimate content such as YouTube videos and fanart, jeopardizing the preservation of video game history. The Video Game History Foundation (VGHF), which has been dedicated to documenting Cookie’s Bustle, has been affected by these aggressive actions, even receiving takedown notices for mentioning its possession of a physical copy of the game.

A game with a bizarre story

The owner of Graceware, Brandon White, has been accused of using low-cost copyright management services to issue dubious ownership claims. According to the VGHF, White has not proven to be the legitimate owner of the game, despite his attempts to silence any discussion about Cookie’s Bustle. The organization has pointed out that these tactics severely impact the historical record of video games, making it difficult for historians and archivists to present and celebrate video games as an art form.

In the absence of evidence of ownership, Ukie, the trade organization for video games in the UK, has suspended DMCA services for Graceware, thus allowing Cookie’s Bustle to leave behind its copyright hell. This decision has been received as a triumph of preservation over censorship tactics. The VGHF has stated that this case is not only important for Cookie’s Bustle, but represents a broader struggle against actors seeking to distort the history of video games and limit access to orphan works, that is, those whose rights holder is unknown.

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