Sony, Jaffe Sued Over Alleged God of War Idea Theft

Jonathan Bissoon-Dath and Barrette-Herzog, plaintiffs, sued for copyright infringment after claiming they sent creative materials to Sony before the production of God of War, including a script and illustrative map, and that Sony subsequently ripped them off in making their huge blockbuster of a game. Sony responded claiming that the allegations were inaccurate, incomplete, and misguided. Plaintiffs wanted to name the game The Adventures of Owen: Owen's Olympic Adventure.

At Least We Know Sony Didn't Take The Name!

I find this case hard to believe based on the name of P's game alone. Who would think up the awesomeness that is GoW, only to name it like it should feature, Izzy the Olympic douche?

Connecticut Court Dismisses WWE Suit Against THQ, Jakks

A Connecticut State Court dismissed all of WWE's claims against THQ and Jakks, the developer and licensee respectively, of WWE video games. WWE alleged bribery, anticompetitive behavior, conflicts of interest, and other dastardly deeds. The court dismissed the claims after reviewing the record: there is no antitrust injury and therefore no cause of action, and all of the federal claims were dealt with in the Federal Court's dismissal of the issue. WWE was hoping to nullify its licensing agreement as a result of the lawsuit, but it will not happen this time. WWE is appealing.

WWE gets the Smackdown

Sounds like WWE wants more money.

Ubisoft Sued for Breaching License Agreement to the Tune of $26 Million

ResponDesign, makers of Yourself!Fitness (thats the name...really?), is suing Ubisoft claiming a breach of their licensing agreement for failure to diligently pursue development of a game utilizing the license. ResponDesign believed that Ubisoft would create a game under their My Coach label that used the technology and software underlying RD's previous Yourself!Fitness (is this just a bad translation?). Instead Ubisoft created a competing product under the My Coach label, told them the licensed game would be called Yourself!Fitness, (which must have really stung!) and didn't even say sorry. Now RD has filed suit in Los Angeles seeking $26 million in damages, mostly from unrealized royalties.

My Suing Coach!

Hate to burst RD's bubble, but if they think they are getting anywhere near this amount they are crazy. Absolute figures aside, this case will be interesting to follow to see if courts will find/infer a right to have a game made when the main inducement for disclosing and sharing IP are proffered royalties. Without seeing the agreement, it is hard to know, but it is likely bad faith for Ubisoft to make a competing product.

Harmonix Files, Then Quickly Withdraws, Suit Against Activision Over Royalties

Harmonix, creators of the Guitar Hero series, filed and then withdrew a suit against Activision, current owner of the Guitar Hero franchise, regarding payment of royalties. Under their agreement, there were two tiers of royalties payment, with the higher rate being used if a subsequent GH game "incorporates, uses, or is derived from Harmonix property." Harmonix believes that GH III does in fact use H's property and as a result, they think they are entitled to the higher rate; the difference between the lower and higher is about $14.5 million. The suit was filed Monday, and withdrawn Tuesday; discussions are to be continued out of court.

Everyone's Gunning For Activision

Activision sure has its hands full these days. Like Biggie said, "Mo Money, Mo Problems."

MDK Sues Capcom Over Dead Rising

MDK, perhaps spurred by Capcom's seeking of a declaratory judgment of non-infringement, has sued Capcom claiming that C's popular Dead Rising infringes on the copyrights and trademarks associated with Dawn Of The Dead. Capcom claimed that the scenario of Zombies attacking a mall is an "unprotectable theme". MDK cared to differ offering, "both works are dark comedies [where] the recreational activities of the zombies and absurdly grotesque 'kill scenes' provide unexpected comic relief...both works provided thoughtful social commentary on the 'mall culture' zeitgeist, in addition to serving up a sizable portion of sensationalistic violence."

MDK Sues Capcom: Sensationalistic!

I haven't played Dead Rising, but from a only-judging-a-book-by-its-cover perspecitive, Dead Rising does look a lot like Dawn of the Dead. For copyright infringement, there must be actual copying (showing this could be problematic because surely the theme of zombies being killed in suburbia has been done before). TM infringement on the other hand relies on a likelihood of confusion standard, regardless of whether the idea is copied or not. It seems like there is a great likelihood of confusion, but it will be interesting to see how the courts classify the DotD mark - probably descriptive, and therefore not warranting as much protection as a suggestive, or fanciful term (they may even claim it is generic, but I think that generic term would be something like, Zombie Movie). It seems like Capcom has admitted that there is a likelihood of confusion by including a disclaimer on the box, but then again, the disclaimer may be enough to limit or eliminate any liability.

DJ Hero Trademark Application Hints at Expanding Activision IP

Continuing with its line of "Hero" games, Activision has filed an application for a trademark for "DJ Hero." Again, a trademark application does not mean that a game is in development, only that the company is thinking about it.

DJ "Copycat" Hero

As deftly noted by 1up, this would not be the first time that a Western developer has borrowed one of Konami's Music game ideas. But then again, who ever heard of Guitar Freaks anyway?

3D Realms Sued for Copyright Infringement

Darin Scott and Edward Polgardy filed suit against 3D Realms over the pruported stealing of their idea by 3D Realms for the upcoming Earth No More. Scott and Polgardy claims they pitched an idea to 3D for a game called Earth No More in which a spore has begun transforming and terraforming Earth into a hideous world full of mutated monsters. 3D Realms has a game coming out called Earth No More, in which a spore has begun transforming and terraforming Earth into a hideous world full of mutated monsters. So, I don't get it...what are they suing for? It's not like they copied the idea or anything.

Copy No More

I am very interested in this case. There is no mention yet about whether a NDA was signed or not, and if so, what the implications of that would be. I have thought about pitching an idea for a game to a company before, but I always hesitated because it just seemed so easy to steal the idea. Now I know, it may not be so easy; and in the case, the copying looks blatant.

Capcom Files Preemptive Suit Against MDK

MDK, makers of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead, have been sued preemptively by Capcom to “eliminate any doubt that [Capcom']s ‘Dead Rising’ video game does not infringe on any copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights” owned by MKR. Apparently, MKR had already sent Capcom, Microsoft, and Best Buy attorneys a draft of a complaint, spurring Capcom into action to receive a Declaratory judgment. MKR also contacted Capcom before the game was released and claimed that it was infringing on their copyrights. Capcom claims that MKR doesn't have the exclusive right to make media associated with a human battling zombies in a mall and believes that the disclaimer on the front of Dead Rising proclaiming that is not affiliated with Dawn of the Dead is sufficient for a court to grant them a declaratory judgment of non-infringement.

Dawn of the Declaratory Judgment

For copyright infringement, it is sufficient if the expression is not lifted, but it seems like the trademark, and more specifically the trade dress, issues of Dead Rising scream "strong likelihood of confusion." I know the first time I saw the box, my first thought was Dawn of the Dead, until I read that disclaimer. Will the disclaimer be enough?

Ubisoft Wins $13.2 Million From Bratz Producers

Back 2002, MGA, the companies that produces every little girls favorite role-model dolls: Bratz, signed an agreement with Ubisoft for U to handle any games related with the toys. After Bratz blew up, MGA tried to force a renegotiation with Ubisoft by terminating the contract for no apparent reason and proceeded to criticize Ubisoft's handling of the license. Ubisoft sued and won over $13 million.

You Bratz Ever Heard of Courtz?

The dispute was settled through arbitration.

Square Enix Sues Sword Counterfeiter

Square Enix, as part of its anti-piracy initiatives, has filed suit in California against several defendants claiming that they are infringing on Square's IP rights by selling replica swords modeled after swords from SE's popular Final Fantasy series. With cooperation from Homeland Security, Agents seized a crate of unlicensed swords. After the retailers refused to tell SE where they got the swords from, SE initiated this action.

Nice Try Buster!

Square claims that it must enforce their IP rights or risk losing them. They are correcto!

GH Injunction Denied

An injunction sought by The Romantics against Activision to stop the sale of Guitar Hero Encore: Rock the 80s, was denied by a US District Court judge. The Romantics claimed that the cover version of "What I Like About You" was too similar to the original recording. The injunction was denied because The Romantics were unable to show a substantial likelihood of success on the merits. Activision plans to use the denial to support the dismissal of the case.

What I'd Like To Sue

It is amazing to me that The Romantics would have their music introduced to a whole new range of listeners by these games and then they would try to sue the game company for it. Guitar Hero will sell pretty much no matter the songs, as long as they are semi-popular: it seems to me The Romantics should be happy their song was chosen.

Ghost Rider Creator Sues T2, Marvel, Sony

Gary Friedrich, co-creator of Ghost Rider, is suing Take-Two, Marvel, Sony and a host of other for copyright infringement of his Ghost Rider character and his alter ego, Johnny Blaze. Friedrich claims that the copyrights in these characters reverted to him in the 2001, and that the named defendants undertook a long and extensive campaign, including movies, toys and video games that utilize his copyrights.

Ghost Free-Rider

With an estimated Box Office gross of $215 million, Mr. Friedrich stand to gain quite a bit.

Piano Hero Maker Sent Cease and Desist from Activision

Nicholas Piedgon, a programmer working for Halite studios, designed an open source software package called Piano Hero, a homage to guitar hero but free. Activision, being the super-cool dudes they are, immediately sent a cease and desist letter alleging trademark infringement and dilution. Mr. Piedgon complied with the letter immediately. The following link leads to the correspondence between the two parties.

Activision sues over Guitar Hero again

Is it just me, or does Activision occupy more than half of my blog entries? Talk about being concerned with the franchise IP. Still though, I want to play some piano hero. I bet it is more productive than guitar hero since it can actually teach useful music skills as opposed to GH's dumbed-down, albeit, more fun almost playing.

Activision settles with former Guitar Hero Producers

Activision has settled its litigation against three former Guitar Hero producers. The suit alleged a whole host of IP infringements by the producers, including copyright infringement, trademark infringement, misappropriating trade secrets, breach of contract, etc.. Activision and the defendants agreed to a temporary injunction effectively prohibiting the producers from working on any rhythm-based video games for the next year.

Guitar Hero Producers suit settles

Given that these producers have teamed up with The Ant Commandoes, also a defendant in litigation involving Guitar Hero, it would seem that while this injunction is helpful, it will not effectively stop the producers from using whatever proprietary knowledge that Activision claims was improperly gained. Perhaps there was no impropriety...

See Guitar Hero Defectors Sued for a recap of the litigation when instituted

Gears of War Movie Rights Secured

New Line, the makers of my favorite game-turned-movie Mortal Kombat, has secured the rights to make a Gears of War movie written by Stuart Beattie, the writer of Collateral. Although certainly not the first game to movie franchise IP, I cannot help but feel that more games will be made into movies.

Gears of War: The Movie

Most game movies either suck, do not stay true to the game, or both. The only two I can remember liking are Mortal Kombat (only the first one) and Doom (I'm not exactly sure why I liked this one, probably because the plot wasn't totally stock and still managed to fit the game). They fall victim to the exact same problem that famous movies-turned-games do: reliance on a name to make an otherwise crap product saleable. Lets see if GoW works out better than most.

Midway sued for alleged stealing of Psi-Ops IP

A Hollywood screenwriter, William L. Crawford III, is suing Midway, claiming that they stole the idea for their Psi-Ops video game, registered with the copyright office in 2004, from a screenplay he registered in 1998. Crawford's film was never actually made, but he spent time and energy promoting it and is claiming that Midway caught wind of it through one of his efforts. Indeed, the similarities between the game and the script are compelling. Both feature government agents with paranormal powers fighting terrorists with paranormal powers, and even some of the characters, such as a foreign pyrotechnic with a troubled past and slender masculine build, are replicated.

Midway: Alleged Thief

One of the comments below the story on Gamespot raises a good point: why didn't Crawford sue right away? It is because he was waiting for Midway to put resources in to promoting the game and making it a viable franchise. Once it became a viable franchise, Midway would want to hold on to it, not shelve it. The short and skinny: this way, Crawford gets paid more...a lot more

RollerCoaster Tycoon Lawsuit Headed to the House of Lords

Atari, creator of the popular RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise is being sued by former employee Chris Sawyer over the nonpayment of Royalties he claims amount to about $4.8 million. According to Lord Justice Chadwick, "This is one of those unusual cases in which a claim which the court considers has no real prospect of success (as the law stands) should, nevertheless, be permitted to go trial." Sorry Chris, looks like you lose. The Court wants to handle the issue of Atari's counterclaim which involves Sawyer breaching his contract by allowing Frontier, another developer, to create a demo for the franchise, inducing them to breach their contractual obligations to Atari.

See you in the House of Lords Buddy!

If the courts follow precedent, Atari will lose on its inducement counterclaim. The House of Lords is considering these inducement claim in two other pending cases; all will have to wait and see.

Ubisoft plans to produce 3 new IPs every 3 years

Ubisoft's vice president of publishing, Jay Cohen, stated that his company sees the development of their business in IP. Correctly pointing out that licensed works can be revoked or ended with the developer being left with nothing, he believes that his company's control of their IP assets is essential.

IP is the horizon

This great news for an aspiring lawyer such as myself. But, I do think Mr. Cohen should check a few postings ago under the Games people buy. Some of the top 100 games of last year:

1. Madden
2. Cars
99. Ubisoft's Rayman

So yes, I think Ubisoft should definitely focus on the IP.

The Games People Buy

Here is some comprehensive research on the types of games people buy. Most significantly, sports and other licensed products were the best performers. There was a correlation between high game reviews and high sales rank, and the exceptions came from licensed games like, Cars (2nd in sales, with a 71% average review). In many ways, the IP carries the title: the game doesn't even have to be good.

The Games We Buy

Of particular note is that many of the games that received poor reviews, but achieved good sales are sequels or other spinoffs of popular game franchises. Video game IP bolster lame titles to huge sales.

Q & A with the head of Gamecock

Harry Miller, a founder and head of Gamecock, sat down with Gamespot and had a chat about how his publishing company is different from the big publishers. He emphasized the indie studios, stating that he will let the developers retain all of their IP instead of having to sign it over to them for an unfair price. Now, he is focused on releasing their line-up of five games. They hope the games will promise a return to good humor: especially with hilarious names like Jazz Jackrabbit

Gamecock's first crow

I bet this unfair publishing deal happened with the Guitar Hero franchise.