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Activision and Vivendi Games have officially merged as Activision Blizzard, making Vivendi Games a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision. The merger is viewed as a new chapter in interactive entertainment, giving Activision Blizzard leading market positions in all categories of the interactive software industry.
Coverage at Gamasutra.
Submitted by Josie Morello
U.S. District Judge Ron Clark has rejected Nintendo Co’s bid for a new trial and forced the company to either post a bond or put royalties in escrow to avoid a ban in the US on some of its controllers. The bid was made by Nintendo in an effort to overturn a May 2008 decision wherein it was held that some of Nintendo’s Wii and GameCube Controllers infringed on patents owned by Anascape Ltd. Judge Clark’s ban will not come into force until Nintendo’s appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit has been heard. The potential ban will only affect sales of Wii Classic Controller, WaveBird controller and Nintendo GameCube controller. In rejecting Nintendo’s bid, Judge Clark found that there was sufficient evidence on the trial record to support the jury’s finding as well as their damage award of $21 million.
Anascape sought a ban on the controllers because they want to enter the controller market but cannot because Nintendo has “clogged the channel”. Nintendo denies both the validity of Anascape’s patent and that their controllers use Anascape technology.
Coverage here (Gamedaily).
Our previous coverage here.
Submitted by Sylvie Lang, Summer Student
A lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court in New York by Hasbro Inc. against the creators of “Scrabulous”. Although an official version of Scrabble was issued last week by Electronic Arts Inc. for Canadian and American Facebook users, online players have continued to play Scrabulous. Hasbro alleges that Scrabulous is a copyright infringement and is trying to have the game shut down. The toymakers are also seeking an unspecified amount in damages from the creators.
Scrabulous is the most popular game on Facebook, attracting more than 600,000 players daily. It was created during the summer of 2007 by two young brothers from Calcutta India, Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla. The brothers and their company RJ Softwares are all named as defendants in the lawsuit which was filed on July 24, 2008.
Submitted by Sylvie Lang, Summer Student
Coverage here (Associated Press)
Video game hardware and software sales for the first half of 2008 are up 56 percent in Canada and 53 percent in the US compared to last year. First-half sales were $783 million in Canada and $8.3 billion in the US.
These figures (which were provided by NPD Canada) reinforce what many of us have known for a while: the video game industry is huge, and is as significant as any other form of "traditional" entertainment.
Coverage at the CBC.
According to a Bloomberg report, Konami filed suit in Marshall, Texas, Federal Court on July 9, 2008 against Harmonix Music Systems, its parent company Viacom and Viacom’s MTV Networks Co.
Konami Corp., the Japanese creator best known for it development of the “Dance Dance Revolution”, “Karaoke Revolution” and “Metal Gear Solid” video games, is claiming that Harmonix Studio’s “Rock Band” video game infringes on a number of US patents which it registered in 2002 and 2003. Those patents relate to “simulated musical instruments” and a “musical rhythm-matching game”, which Konami first introduced nearly a decade ago in its “DrumMania” and “Guitar Freaks” series. Harmonix, of course, has used instrument-shaped peripherals in its “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” video games, both of which have been widely successful.
Konami is seeking monetary compensation (reports do not specify the amount sought), as well as a court order prohibiting Harmonix from continuing to sell the allegedly infringing products. Harmonix is reportedly extremely surprised by Konami’s actions and is preparing itself to defend the claim.
Coverage here (Gamasutra)
Submitted by Tania Da Silva, Articled Student
In March we reported that Vivendi had sued the author of a software tool that automates certain in-game tasks such as fighting in World of Warcraft. Vivendi claimed that the software tool infringed its copyrights because the tool copies game code into RAM in order to avoid cheat-prevention software, and also violates the game's end-user licence agreement.
Earlier this week the United States District Court for the District of Arizona released its decision, granting Vivendi summary judgment regarding copyright infringement and tortious interference. Other claims, such as certain DMCA claims, trade-mark claims and unjust enrichment claims, will be decided later in a full trial.
Coverage here (Virtually Blind)
The New York State Assembly has passed a bill mandating that all videogames sold in the state of New York display ESRB ratings on their packaging. The bill also requires new consoles to be equipped with controls that would prevent the display of indecent/violent video games. Legislators hope that the bill (which will eventually become law) will help to provide parents with much needed information about video games. The bill also foresees the creation of an advisory council to examine issues such as the potential impact of violent media. The bill could potentially become law as early as 2010, although similar bills in other states have been stuck down as unconstitutional.
Submitted by Josie Morello
Coverage at GameDaily.com.
Jack Thompson, lawyer and anti-video game advocate, is facing permanent disbarment. Judge Tunis, the Referee overseeing Mr. Thompson's disciplinary hearing rejected the recommendation of the Florida Bar Association for a 10-year disbarment for Mr. Thompson.
Instead Judge Tunis recommended that Mr. Thompson be disbared for life, with no leave to apply for re-admission. She also recommended that Mr. Thompson pay $43,675.35 to the Florida Bar in respect of legal costs incurred in prosecuting the case.
Coverage at: Game Politics
The verdict in favour of Anascape Ltd., originally handeded down on May 14, 2008, was upheld by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texax, Lufkin Division, when it denied Nintendo's motion for a reduced verdict.
At issue were a series of patents owned by Anascape relating to video game controllers. A jury determined that various Nintendo controllers infringed those patents.
Coverage at: The Earth Times
The claim alleges that Electronic Arts' exclusive rights agreement with the NFL, NCAA football and the Arena Football League, which grants EA the sole right to publish games featuring the thoe leagues' teams, players and stadiums, amounts to "blatantly anticompetitive conduct".
How so, you might ask yourself, given that other publishers are free to make football video games? Counsel for the plaintiffs acknowledges this, but argues that there isn't a "market for interactive football that is not based on real players and teams."
The claimants seek "restitution and damages for those who purchased an Electronic Arts football game since August of 2005, disgorgement of all profits made as a result of anticompetitive actions, and that the infringing agreements be declared null and void."
Coverage at: SF Gate and Cinemablend
A Delaware judge denied the preliminary injunction to halt the merger between Activision and Vivendi S.A. that was requested by the Wayne County Employees' Retirement System. The announcement of the $18.9 billion transaction was made last December. Following an approbatory vote of the two companies’ shareholders, the merger will be ready to proceed. The new business will be called Activision Blizzard.
Coverage here (Gamespot)
Submitted by Amanda Alfieri, Articled Student
Submitted by Amanda Alfieri, Articled Student
Topware Interactive obtained judgments from a London Court against four individuals for file-sharing . The Court granted interim damages in the amount of £750 per person and the final amount can be up to £2000 per person. The difficulty in successfully suing file sharers is discovering their identity. Internet Service Providers (ISP) give a number to each of their users when they are on-line. This number is referred to as an IP address and the ISP's have been reluctant to divulge the IP addresses of their customers in order for computer experts to be able to identify which IP addresses match file-sharers with illegally obtained copyright material on their computers. However, a UK High Court has ordered the identification of hundreds of users whose computers have been used for illegal game sharing. It will permit Davenport Lyons, the lawyers for Topware Interactive to send lawyer’s letters to all those users. The recipients of the letter must provide a satisfactory response or they shall risk being sued.
Read more at This Is Money.
Submitted by Tania Da Silva, Articled Student
On June 17, 2008, it was reported that two of Tecmo’s employees, Team Ninja developers Hiroaki Ozawa and Tatsuki Tsunoda, were filing a class action lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court, on behalf of themselves and 300 other employees, against the company for 8.3 million Yen in unpaid overtime (approx. $77,000). Tecmo allegedly placed workers in a “flexible hours” work scheme, thus underpaying them for overtime hours for the past four years. Tecmo is denying rumors that up to 300 of its employees are involved and have reportedly stated that only two employees are seeking legal action. They are also denying rumors of mass resignations occurring as a result of the suit. Reports indicate that, according to Tecmo, employees affected by unpaid overtime have been notified that they will be compensated and that the company will resolve the issue.
The news of this class action follows the resignation of Tomonobu Itagaki, head of Team Ninja. Mr. Itagaki has also filed suit against Tecmo. Rumors indicate that he is seeking approximately 1.4 million dollars in damages for unpaid completion bonuses for the development of Dead or Alive 4 for Xbox 360. It has also been reported that a court order was granted to Tecmo prohibiting Mr. Itagaki from directly or indirectly making statements about the company, its products, practices or employees.
Nintendo has sued Nyko Technologies Inc. over its Wii accessory, the wireless Kama Nunchuk. In a suit filed in US District Court in Seattle, Nintendo alleges that Nyko’s remote "wholly appropriates the novel shape, design, overall appearance and even the color and materials used in the Nintendo Nunchuk controller." Nyko has denied any violation of Nintendo’s intellectual property.
In addition to accusing Nyko of trademark and patent violations, Nintendo is seeking damages and profits earned as a result of the infringements.
Nintendo’s Wii Nunchuk is the motion-sensitive controller used with the popular system, but is attached to the main controller by a wire. Nyko also makes other peripherals for use with the Wii, including another wireless remote and a wireless Telecaster-ish guitar for GHIII.
Coverage at GameSpot and Game Daily.
Nyko home page is here.
UPDATE: Patent Arcade also has coverage here.
Submitted by Michael Mjanes
GameSpot is reporting that a suit against Nintendo for using unauthorized music in its 2004 commercial for “Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door” has been dropped. Morgan Creek Productions filed the suit on June 12, 2008 alleging that Nintendo had used the song “You’re So Cool” without permission. The song is better known as the theme to the ultra-violent, Tarantino-penned cult classic “True Romance”.
According to GameSpot, Morgan Creek voluntarily dismissed the case on June 18. No reasons were given.
GameSpot report is here.
Google Video of Nintendo’s ad is here.
Submitted by Michael Mjanes
Who can forget the infamous Hot Coffee episode from a few years ago, when players found hidden (and adult-oriented) content in Take Two's "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas"?
Well, except perhaps for video game lawyers, it seems like many people have forgotten. Take Two proposed a settlement to the class action lawsuit arising from the Hot Coffee episode in late 2007 (see Take Two's settlement website here). Despite the millions of copies of the game that have been sold, and despite the outcry that ensued when the Hot Coffee story broke, only a reported 2,676 offended purchasers have actually filed claims.
Take Two expects it will cost about $30,000 to pay out the claims. Perhaps more interestingly, the plaintiff-side lawyers are seeking legal fees of about $1.3 million.
The settlement still needs to be approved by the courts, but most commentators expect that it will be approved.
Coverage at the New York Times and at GameDaily.com.
There have been a number of movies in recent years based on video game properties (e.g, Hitman, Doom, etc.) Even though Take Two's Grand Theft Auto series of games is wildly popular, however, it's unlikely that there will be a "Grand Theft Auto" movie based on the game.
The reason is that Fox Atomic owns the rights to a 1977 movie (directed by Ron Howard) called "Grand Theft Auto". And an agreement between Fox and Take Two says that Fox will not make a video game based on its movie property, and Take Two will not make a movie based on its video game property.
Of course, this is probably just a straight branding issue -- Take Two can probably make a movie based on GTA IV so long as it's not called "Grand Theft Auto".
This is not breaking news, but the situation highlights how complicated branding, cross-marketing and derivative work issues can be in the video game and entertainment media context.
Coverage at GameDaily.com.
The Entertainment Software Association recently received $65,000 in fees and expenses from the state of Minnesota, after the state tried and failed to draft enforceable anti-violence video game legislation. The ESA challenged the law in court and won. The ESA reports that it has now been awarded $2 million from other jurisdictions after successfully challenging their laws.
Coverage here (GameDaily).
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