Minecraft-inspired movie shut down

A crowdfunding campaign for a full-length feature film set in the world of the hugely popular Minecraft universe has been shut down, presumably at the request of creator Mojang.

The Kickstarter effort for "Birth of Man - A Minecraft Feature Film" was canceled by its creator--YouTuber Brandon Laatsch--on Friday after gathering $63,000 of its $600,000 goal.

Writing on Twitter, Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson said, "We don't allow half-a-million [dollar] Kickstarters based on our IP without any deals in place :/"

Laatsch explained on the Kickstarter page that he understood Minecraft was not his creation, but said he hoped Mojang would allow him to take "certain creative license" for this project.

"Birth of Man - A Minecraft Feature Film" was going to tell an "epic fantasy story" set in the world of Minecraft and promised to blend live-action cinematography with visual effects. Laatsch, a self-described Minecraft fan, had been working on the movie for more than a year and hoped to deliver it later this year.

Mojang's End User License Agreement (EULA) for Minecraft specifies that users are not allowed to "make commercial use of anything we've made" or "try to make money from anything we've made." This is where Laatsch's Minecraft movie was likely tripped up.

A documentary chronicling the development of Minecraft was produced by 2 Player Productions and released in December 2012, but so far Mojang has not licensed the rights to Minecraft for a feature film. Other Minecraft licensing deals have included arrangements for various clothing, accessories, and toys.