Post by leunas on Feb 20, 2007 5:24:19 GMT -5
Wandering over to Ross Dannenburg's Patent Arcade blog, we note that they've updated their gigantic Video Game Lawsuit list, adding more summaries to what is already the most impressive list of its kinda on the Internet.
There are some brand new lawsuits too, but I found myself going over some old lawsuits which I'm not sure have been picked up on too much yet, for example Capcom v. Data East (N.D. Cal. 1994), in which: "Capcom filed a motion for preliminary injunction to enjoin Data East from distributing the video game “Fighter's History,” which Capcom alleges infringes upon its copyrights for the “Street Fighter II” series of video games" - and which was denied!
Also neat is Ahn v. Midway (N.D. Ill 1997), in which: "Plaintiff Malecki modeled the character Sonja Blade for MK (see above screenshot). Plaintiff Ahn modeled the character Shang Tsung in the coin-operated version of MKII, while plaintiff Zamiar modeled for three characters, Kitana, Mileena, and Jade, all of whom appeared in MKII."
They basically claimed that, since they were motion captured doing particular moves: "The crux of the plaintiffs’ argument with respect to copyright infringement was that each plaintiff was a joint author of both MK and MKII, and defendants therefore owed an accounting to each plaintiff."
Turns out not so much - "In analyzing the plaintiffs contributions, the court stated that “it is apparent to the court, in viewing videotapes of the actual games, that the superhuman gyrations and leaps high into the air of the characters, including plaintiffs' characters, are fanciful products of the imaginations of the creators of the source codes.”" This is fascinating stuff.
Article:
feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gamesetwatch/~3/92980456/game_lawsuits_from_here_to_tim_1.php