LittleBigPlanet levels being deleted with no warning or explanation

If you've put countless hours into crafting a level in Media Molecule's uber-customizable platformer, you know how terrifying that headline really is -- LittleBigPlanet forums across the web are erupting with angry amateur level designers whose creations were 'moderated' (see: deleted) without explanation or forewarning. You read that right -- the levels aren't being removed from your list of published, downloadable creations. They are being deleted. Permanently. Forever. Gone.

Affected parties have noticed that the moderations have erased levels which mention (to varying degrees) copyrighted IPs. For instance, that remarkable God of War level that everyone probably played during beta? It is no more. The gaggle of Super Mario Bros. reimaginings? Yeah, those are gone too. Our personal favorite -- a level titled "Failure to Launch" was deleted, supposedly for using the title of a 2006 McConnaughey-infused romantic comedy. Sadly, our very own magnum opus also fell beneath the axe -- yes, "Maid in Manhattan" is gone, and no amount of protest will bring it back.

Moderators of the engulfed LBP forums have promised to implement a stronger feedback system to explain why levels are disappearing -- though their unwavering stance on copyrighted content has officially been displayed. Our lesson has certainly been learned -- we'll be keeping our rom-com-based creations to ourselves from now on.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/09/li...g-or-explanat/

Not good news.

This is horrible news, however, I see where they are coming from. If a company facilitates the infringement of copyrighted material, they are equally at fault.

Why do you think game companies for PC do not endorse any mod; let alone "clone" mods? This very reason. Most mod authors using copyrighted material get a cease or desist or if they are really smart, get permission first.

But to be quite honest, I'd much rather these things be deleted than some company find it and sue Media Molecule into oblivion...

the huge number of levels still available with direct reference to other IPs make me think there is some misunderstanding here.

Just check the servers. something doesnt make sense…

and check out my level [video in off-topic]

Could quite possibly be that these levels were simply reported, whereas others were not.

Although playing a Mario clone on LBP would be fun, it is simply not why I bought LBP. Its not like it is hard to relive the days of Mario thanks to internet...