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Intellectual Property Law

Video Game Law Blog

Current issues in video game law.
By Chris Bennett, Tudor Carsten, Michael R. Coburn, Sarah Dale-Harris, Pablo Guzman, Danielle (Dani) Lemon, Chris Metcalfe and David Spratley

Post Frequency: 1.5/day

Last Entry: May 07, 2010 at 21:07:00

Closure of game exhibit leads to lawsuit

Posted on June 17, 2009
The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in US federal court regarding the closure of an exhibit at the Sancturary for Independent Media. The exhibit featued the game "Virtual Jihadi", a FPS which involves players hunting down George W. Bush...

Midway Games Bankruptcy Dispute Settled

Posted on June 11, 2009
Submitted by Sylvie Lang The legal dispute between Midway Game's unsecured creditors committee and its majority shareholder, Mark Thomas, over the company's bankruptcy has been settled. The creditors asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge to approve the settlement on June 4, 2009...

Duke Nukem Forever or Never?

Posted on May 26, 2009
It has been reported that Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. ("Take-Two") has filed a lawsuit against Apogee Software Ltd. because of the developer's "continually delayed" delivery of the game Duke Nukem Forever, a project that has been ongoing since 1997 ...

Midway's Rollercoaster Continues - Creditors Sue Board Members

Posted on May 26, 2009
Submitted by Sylvie Lang On May 12, 2009, Midway creditors filed suit against former and current members of Midway's board, former major stakeholder Sumner Redstone, his daughter and former chairperson, Shari Redstone and current owner Mark Thomas, among others...

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Midway's Rollercoaster Continues - Creditors Sue Board Members

Posted on May 25, 2009
Submitted by Sylvie Lang On May 12, 2009, Midway creditors filed suit against former and current members of Midway's board, former major stakeholder Sumner Redstone, his daughter and former chairperson, Shari Redstone and current owner Mark Thomas, among others...

RCMP and York Police Arrest DVD Pirates

Posted on May 19, 2009
Much criticism has been leveled at Canada regarding its copyright laws; however, the news isn't all bad. Following a six-month investigation, the RCMP and York Police, in a collaborative effort, have arrested five men (Huici Chen, 36, Chung Ping Pang, 37, Tongjin Chen, 62, all from Markham, Ya Ouyang, 29, of Scarborough and Huixin Chen, 27, of Brampton) for multiple breaches of the Canadian Copyright Act for pirating movies including "Slumdog Millionaire", the "Curious case of Benjamin Button" and "James Bond: Quantum of Solace"...

BIG FISH GAMES ACQUIRES GRUBBY GAMES

Posted on May 05, 2009
Seattle based Big Fish Games who works with more than 500 game developers has acquired Vancouver based Grubby Games, the creator of Incredibots and Professor Fizzwizzle. The acquisition of Grubby Games was attractive to Big Fish Games because of its talented group of developers and its strong cultural fit...

Controller Patent Problems Still Rumbling for Sony

Posted on May 04, 2009
An interesting and complex case was reported on GamePolitics last week, alleging patent infringement as well as fraud, conspiracy and attorney malpractice against Sony, PDP/Electro Source and their attorneys. According to the plaintiffs, Craig Thorner and his company Virtual Reality Feedback, the defendants attempted to use Mr...

Scratch DJ Game Itching for Damages and Injunctive Relief

Posted on April 30, 2009
It has been reported that Scratch DJ Game ("Scratch"), a joint venture between Genius Products ("Genius") and Numark Industries, has filed a lawsuit against publisher Activision, former partner and game developer California 7 Studios ("7 Studios") and its CEO Lewis Peterson, claiming that Activision has "engaged in intentional interference with contract, breach of contract, conversion and misappropriation of trade secrets obtained from Genius to purchase 7 Studios, which is under contract to develop the much anticipated new Hip Hop video game, Scratch: The Ultimate DJ...

Konami Drops Six Days in Fallujah_

Posted on April 30, 2009
Submitted by Sylvie Lang Japanese video game publisher Konami has decided not to publish the controversial game Six Days in Fallujah, developed by Atomic Games. The game re-enacts the Second Battle of Fallujah which took place in late 2004 during the Iraq War...

Empire Interactive Shuts Down

Posted on April 30, 2009
It has been reported that Empire Interactive, a U.K. based publisher of nearly two decades, is shutting down its operations. The closure has been announced to the employees located in its London offices while all other employees are currently being liquidated...

RETIRED NFL PLAYERS V. MADDEN AND ELECTRONIC ARTS?

Posted on April 22, 2009
GamePolitics has reported that the NFL players who won a $28 million dollar lawsuit last year against the NFL Players Association are planning on suing John Madden and Electronic Art over the Madden NFL series of games. The retired players claim that Madden and Electronic Art used them in their games without compensating the players...

Creditors Given Break in Midway Games Bankruptcy

Posted on April 17, 2009
Submitted by Sylvie Lang On April 9, 2009 the Judge overseeing the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy of Midway Games ruled that creditors of the video game publisher have permission to investigate and pursue litigation against the company's owner, Mark Thomas in relation to the transaction that led Thomas to own a controlling stake in Midway Games...

Nintendo Wins Another Patent Battle - Sony and Microsoft to Follow?

Posted on March 30, 2009
A lawsuit by Fenner Investments Ltd. of Texas against Nintendo alleging patent infringement has been dismissed by U.S. District Court. Fenner claimed that Nintendo infringed a 1998 patent relating to analog joysticks with its Gamecube and Wii. The judge granted summary judgment in favour of Nintendo on March 17, 2009, but has yet to rule on the merits of the case against Sony and Microsoft, also named in the suit...

UTAH GOVERNOR VETOES GAMING LEGISLATION

Posted on March 29, 2009
Jon Huntsman, Utah's governor vetoed HB 353, a bill which targets both movies and video games. Hunstman stated: "While protecting children from inappropriate materials is a laudable goal, the language of this bill is so broad that it will likely be struck down by the courts as an unconstitutional violation of the Dormant Commerce Clause and/or the first Amendment...

Controversial Ad Leads to Outrage ... and Potential Lawsuit

Posted on March 22, 2009
Submitted by Karine Bellavance In response to a printed ad released by the U.K. government, it is reported that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe ("Sony") is considering legal action. This ad was published as part of the Change4Life campaign, backed by the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research and Diabetes UK...

Rumoured Premium App Store Could Help Make iPhone the "Future of Game Play"

Posted on March 20, 2009
Submitted by Sylvie Lang Rumours abound that Apple will launch a premium app store this week, at the same time as it unveils an updated iPhone operating system. The new "upscale" section of the Apple app store will only handle software programs that cost $20 or more...

PALTALK HOLDINGS VS. MICROSOFT

Posted on March 11, 2009
PalTalk Holdings has instituted legal proceedings against Microsoft on the basis that Microsoft's Halo and Xbox infringe its patents related to "controlling interactive applications over multiple computers". Microsoft is challenging the validity of the patents and PalTalk's claim that the patents are worth $90 million...

New Zealand Raises the Bar for ISPs

Posted on March 02, 2009

Sony, Nintendo and Nokia Sued for Patent Infringement

Posted on March 02, 2009

Schwarzenegger's Anti-Video Game Law Terminated by Appeals Court

Posted on February 26, 2009
Sylvie Lang On Friday, February 20, 2009 a U.S. Federal Appeals Court ruled that a California law aimed at restricting the sale of violent video games to minors was unconstitutional. The ruling came in the Video Software Dealers Association v. Schwarzenegger, where the video game industry sought to block the anti-vide game law that was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2005...

Arnold's law still terminated

Posted on February 24, 2009
In January 2008, we reported that the State of California had become the site of an ongoing battleground between free speech advocates and legislators seeking to limit access to violent video games. In 2005 the State Legislature passed a law that would impose fines and other sanctions on people who sold certain video games to minors...

Console manufacturers: time to update your warning notices

Posted on February 24, 2009
An article in the British Journal of Dermatology has identified a new skin disorder, affectionately called "PlayStation palmar hidradenitis". It was discovered by researchers when a 12 year-old girl was admitted to a hospital, complaining of painful sores on her palms...

HARMONIX AND VIACOM V. KONAMI

Posted on February 13, 2009
Harmonix and Viacom have instituted proceedings against Konami. The Plaintiffs who developed Rock Band are claiming that the peripheral for Konami's Rock Revolution violates a patent that they hold for controllers that simulate musical instruments. This is not the first lawsuit to involve these parties...

Why play when you can glide? Because...

Posted on February 12, 2009
In 2006, MDY Industries sought a declaration that its "Glider" program that plays World of Warcraft doesn't violate Blizzard's and Vivendi's copyrights. The Arizona District Court ruled in favour of Blizzard and Vivendi, for tortuous interference with contract, contributory copyright infringement, and vicarious copyright infringement...

An offer he couldn't refuse...

Posted on February 09, 2009
Last year we reported that the estate of Mario Puzo (the author of the original Godfather books) sued Paramount Pictures and Electronic Arts for royalties in connection with the video game. Anthony Puzo, Mario's son, initiated the lawsuit for at least $1 million in damages...

Ubi Vancouver

Posted on February 04, 2009
Ubisoft has recently acquired Vancouver developer Action Pants Inc., one of Vancouver's top game developers. Congrats to Simon, Nik, Omar and their team who created an incredibly successful studio in a short three years, becoming one of BC's top 50 employers in 2008 and 2009...

Tetris trade-marks sound good

Posted on January 27, 2009
When you think of some of the most valuable trade-marks in the world, you probably think of marks like MICROSOFT and SONY. You might also think of some logos, such as the EA logo or, for snack breaks, the McDonalds' Golden Arches. But what about the Intel Inside tune, or the Harlem Globetrotters' Sweet Georgia Brown theme, or Nokia's distinctive ring tone? Are these protected under trade-mark law? Unregistered Protection The short answer is that sound marks are protected by the common law if their owners can prove: (a) there is goodwill in the marks (i...

Health Warnings could Become Mandatory for'-- Video Games?

Posted on January 27, 2009
Submitted by Karine Bellavance U.S. Congressman Joe Baca has proposed a piece of legislation entitled the Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009, which would require that games with an Electronics Software Ratings Board (ESRB) rating of "T" for Teen or higher feature a label stating "WARNING : Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior"...

Health Warnings could Become Mandatory for... Video Games?

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