PIPA Loses 13 Senators, SOPA Loses ESA Support
Saturday, January 21st, 2012The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has been quickly losing favor in the House for the past week. After being “shelved” from further discussion three days ago, it was recently announced that 13 members of Congress have withdrawn their support for its sister legislation The Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). Republican Senators Marco Rubio (FL) [...]
1 CommentPIPA Vote Postponed
Saturday, January 21st, 2012Originally scheduled to take place on January 24th, the Congressional vote on the Protect Intellectual Property Act (or PIPA) has been postponed by Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV, above). While not as official as the House’s “shelving” of its sister legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act (or SOPA) three days earlier, a new deadline [...]
No CommentsCD Projekt Calls Off Hunt for ‘Witcher 2′ Pirates
Saturday, January 21st, 2012In an open letter to fans last week, CD Projekt RED announced that it would be suspending its legal battles against alleged pirates of their RPG, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. The response the prospective litigation got from fans -particularly after unsubstantiated reports began to come in about legal action being taken against individuals [...]
1 CommentBethesda Regains All Rights to ‘Fallout’ MMO
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012Following the announcement of a settlement between Bethesda and Interplay, the former’s parent company Zenimax Media has announced that all rights for an MMO based on the Fallout license have now reverted back to Bethesda Softworks. Interplay will receive $2 million in consideration from Bethesda, but will be tasked with paying for all of their [...]
No CommentsBattlefield Claims First Amendment Protection for Helicopter Likeness in BF3
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012According to a report by Gamesindustry.biz, EA has was approached late last year by lawyers representing Textron, a conglomerate that includes military helicopter-manufacturer Bell Helicopters. Textron demanded that three of the Bell models included in Battlefield 3 are removed from the game, though documents recently submitted to a North Carolina court suggest that an agreement has not been reached [...]
1 CommentBethesda v. Interplay Fallout Suit Settled
Saturday, January 7th, 2012The four-year long battle between Bethesda Softworks (and parent company Zenimax Media) and Interplay – over the right for the latter to produce Fallout Online – has finally been settled. According to sources from Duck and Cover, Bethesda has dismissed with prejudice their suit from Interplay, a legal term which means a permanent stay of [...]
No CommentsEpic Games Doesn’t Support SOPA, ESA Working with Congress on Bill
Friday, January 6th, 2012The Stop Online Piracy Act currently making its way through the various chambers of the US government has divided not only the gaming populace at large, but the gaming development community. Epic Games recently announced its refusal to support the bill on the company’s official forums. The studio’s senior PR Manager Dana Crowley posted a [...]
1 CommentHarmonix Wins $383 Million In Case Against Viacom
Friday, January 6th, 2012The sale of Harmonix almost exactly one year ago came with a lot of financial baggage. Former parent company Viacom later sued the former shareholders of Harmonix for a refund of $131 million in bonuses that were previously paid out to the developer. The shareholders then counter-sued the media conglomerate for a hefty $700 million [...]
No Comments2009 ‘Final Fantasy XI’ Class Action Suit Dismissed
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed a 2009 class action lawsuit against Square Enix and its MMO Final Fantasy XI, the publisher’s US office recently announced. The suit, filed by San Francisco resident Esther Leong, alleged that the publisher used “deceptive advertising, unfair business practices, and fraudulent concealment with respect to the online [...]
No CommentsCD Projekt Taking Legal Action Against ‘Witcher 2′ Pirates
Thursday, December 29th, 2011Late last month CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwinski estimated that for everyone who purchased a copy of their RPG The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, there were four to five that pirated the software. The developer has since mounted a legal campaign against these pirates, although it has assured the press it is only going [...]
No CommentsCourt Denies Bethesda ‘Fallout Online’ Appeal
Friday, October 28th, 2011It’s got to be tough for Bethesda’s legal division. First Mojang’s victory in the “Scrolls” case, and now it has been revealed that the United Court of Appeals denied the right to appeal an earlier decision that dismissed an injunction against Interplay and their Fallout MMO. Bethesda and parent company Zenimax Media (the current rights [...]
2 CommentsMojang Wins Interim Injunction Against Bethesda
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011Markus “Notch” Persson proclaimed victory for Mojang on Twitter earlier today, stating that the minds behind Minecraft won the interim injunction against Bethesda Softworks and its parent company Zenimax Media. No official court documents have been released to the public yet, but we’re going to assume “Notch” isn’t one to fabricate legal procedure. The case [...]
1 CommentTeam Bondi Shutting Down
Thursday, October 6th, 2011With most of its staff already moving over to similar jobs at George Miller’s Kennedy Miller Mitchell studio, and the rest of the company name swamped in the fallout of an IGDA investigation, there wasn’t much left for Team Bondi to cling onto. According to report out of Develop, what little remains of the studio [...]
Comments OffBethesda v. Mojang ‘Scrolls’ Suit Heading to Court
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011Looks like a Quake 3 match isn’t going to cut it for Bethesda Softworks. The Elder Scrolls developer’s lawsuit against the Minecraft makers at Mojang is heading to the court system. Bethesda issued the suit waiting to change the name of Mojang’s upcoming collectible card game, simply known as Scrolls, which the company believes infringes [...]
Comments OffViacom Brings Ex-Harmonix Shareholders to Court for Refund
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011Over $150 million hangs in the balance in the aftermath of MTV’s selling off of Harmonix earlier this year. MTV’s parent company Viacom has taken the former shareholders of the Rock Band studio to court over a refund of the bonus payments given out at Harmonix’s initial acquisition. Viacom is asking for $131,827,980 of the [...]
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