|
|
Video Game Law Blog - 2004
Current issues in video game law.
| Yahoo! recently sued start-up Xfire for patent infringement. Yahoo! claims Xfire's online chat application for gamers violates Yahoo!'s GameProwler instant messenger application. Both [read more]lundi, 14 février 2005 | Chris Bennett |
| n an ongoing lawsuit between Sony and a video game salesman who installed modchips into Playstations, Sony projected a racing game on the walls of the court to demonstrate how the mod chips worked [read more]lundi, 14 février 2005 | Chris Bennett |
| The hacker who roasted 50,000 computers with his variant of the Blaster worm was recently sentenced to one and a half years in prison for his actions. His punishment could have been much more [read more]lundi, 14 février 2005 | Chris Bennett |
| Take this story, for example. Michigan police recently arrested a 4-year-old boy who borrowed his parents' car in the middle of the night to rent a video game. Seriously. (We didn't [read more]lundi, 14 février 2005 | Chris Bennett |
| Tecmo Inc. recently sued the website administrators of a site dedicated to hacking into video games including some of Tecmo's games. Tecmo was particularly upset about modifications of the [read more]lundi, 14 février 2005 | Chris Bennett |
| Those who enjoy speculation are intrigued by two Japanese trade-mark applications filed by Nintendo in late 2004. The marks are V-POCKET and PCGP, and the applications refer to a wide range of [read more]lundi, 14 février 2005 | David Spratley |
| In a clear case of art imitating art, the February 8 episode of Law& Order Special Victims Unit dealt with teenagers who were apparently inspired by their favourite gangster-lifestyle video game [read more]lundi, 14 février 2005 | David Spratley |
| Citing links between juvenile violence and video games, Washington D.C.'s municipal government has announced that it wants to ban sales of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors. Stores [read more]lundi, 14 février 2005 | David Spratley |
| Take Two Interactive has entered into further semi-exclusive baseball agreements by signing long-term deals with MLB Properties and MLB Advanced Media, two key Major League Baseball licensing firms [read more]lundi, 14 février 2005 | David Spratley |
| The Governor of Missouri recently banned video games from Missouri prisons. He didn't like the idea of allowing Missouri's most violent inmates to play games simulating murders and carjackings [read more]jeudi, 27 janvier 2005 | Chris Bennett |
| China has banned the sale and distribution of 50 video games. Some of the games are pirated and others violate Chinese gaming regulations which outlaw games that "hurt national dignity" [read more]jeudi, 27 janvier 2005 | Chris Bennett |
| Talk about bad break-ups. A woman is facing criminal charges in Japan after deleting her ex-boyfriend's data on "Lineage", a popular online fantasy game. The woman wasn't [read more]jeudi, 27 janvier 2005 | Chris Bennett |
| There's more to watch out for online than upset ex-girlfriends. A new Trojan horse called "LegMir-Y" is also out to steal usernames and passwords for Lineage. And as it turns [read more]jeudi, 27 janvier 2005 | Chris Bennett |
| 3D Realms has shut down development of an amateur mod for Half-Life 2 which was meant to recreate Duke Nukem 3D. 3D Realms, which developed the classic Duke Nukem 3D, is currently working on [read more]jeudi, 27 janvier 2005 | David Spratley |
| Take 2 Interactive has reached an agreement in principle with the Major League Baseball Players Association to develop and publish baseball video games. Under this seven-year deal, Take 2 will [read more]jeudi, 27 janvier 2005 | David Spratley |
| Microsoft has filed a US patent application for a system that will help consumers determine whether their PCs can run a particular piece of software. The system involves a "capability tool", [read more]jeudi, 27 janvier 2005 | David Spratley |
| Sony has also filed a US patent application, this one to do with wirelessly connecting portable game machines (ie Sony's new handheld PSP) with various Internet-connected devices. The application [read more]jeudi, 27 janvier 2005 | David Spratley |
| A new US patent might describe key elements of the XBOX2, including a system of multiple processors which work together to generate realistic geometry while simultaneously managing other routine [read more]mardi, 18 janvier 2005 | Chris Bennett |
| A jury has awarded Immersion Corp. $82 million in damages after deciding that the rumble feature in Sony's Dual Shock controllers violates two US patents owned by Immersion. Sony was also [read more]mardi, 18 janvier 2005 | Chris Bennett |
| A Texas court has ordered that Microsoft, Sony and others temporarily stop selling "The Guy Game", which contains topless images of the plaintiff. At the time the photos were taken, [read more]mardi, 18 janvier 2005 | Chris Bennett |
| The governor of Illinois has proposed new state legislation prohibiting the sale or rental of excessively violent and sexually explicit video games to children younger than 18. The proposed legislation [read more]mardi, 18 janvier 2005 | David Spratley |
| Electronic Arts continued its trend of signing exlusive licence agreements with everyone under the sun (except for us, apparently, but we haven't given up hope) by announcing an unprecedented [read more]mardi, 18 janvier 2005 | David Spratley |
| Sports giant Reebok has signed a multi-title sponsorship agreement with Electronic Arts, under which Reebok's products will be included in various EA sports games. Reebok sees this as a natural [read more]mardi, 18 janvier 2005 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Davidson & Associates v. Internet Gateway, et al
US Court of Appeal for the 8th Circuit (2005) No. 04-3654
The plaintiffs do business as Blizzard Entertainmen [read more]samedi, 1 janvier 2005 | David Spratley |
| First-person shooter "Postal 2" has been banned by the Office of Film and Literature Classification in New Zealand, in part because of the game's use of urine in association with degrading [read more]jeudi, 16 décembre 2004 | Chris Bennett |
| On a similar note, Illinois is considering legislation to regulate the sale and rental of explicit video games. The legislation would make it a crime to sell or rent such games to minors.
Coverage [read more]jeudi, 16 décembre 2004 | Chris Bennett |
| Blizzard Entertainment recently won its lawsuit against Internet Gateway Inc. and various individuals who reverse engineered Blizzard's software and protocols to create the bnetd project, a free [read more]jeudi, 16 décembre 2004 | Chris Bennett |
| 321 Studios Inc., whose Games X Copy software allowed users to make backup copies of copy-protected PC games, has agreed never to make or sell software that lets users create copies of computer games [read more]jeudi, 16 décembre 2004 | David Spratley |
| Three DC-area video game stores were raided recently, resulting in the seizure of equipment and the arrest of two employees. The charge modifying Xbox consoles so that they could play pirated [read more]jeudi, 16 décembre 2004 | David Spratley |
| Half-Life 2 maker Valve has hit back at players who obtained pirated copies of its popular new game. To be able to play, players must set up an account on Steam, Valve's online gaming community [read more]jeudi, 16 décembre 2004 | David Spratley |
| Several major video game publishers have been sued for patent infringement in respect of their 3D graphics display techniques. The U.S. patent in question protects a system for 3D spherical panning [read more]mardi, 23 novembre 2004 | Chris Bennett |
| Microsoft has begun checking its Xbox Live users' consoles for mods, refusing to let modified consoles participate in online games. Microsoft says the purpose of this new policy is to reduce [read more]mardi, 23 novembre 2004 | Chris Bennett |
| Marvel Enterprises Inc. sued NcSoft Corp. and Cryptic Studios Inc. in regard to their massively multiplayer game "City of Heroes". Marvel claims that the character customization functionality [read more]mardi, 23 novembre 2004 | Chris Bennett |
| The Supreme Court of India recently ruled that off-the-shelf computer software is a "good", which means it's subject to sales tax in India. The plaintiff unsuccessfully argued that [read more]mardi, 23 novembre 2004 | Chris Bennett |
| Scottish publisher Traffic Management recently released JFK Reloaded, a game that allows the player to recreate the assassination of JFK. We suspect people's opinions about the game may divide [read more]mardi, 23 novembre 2004 | Chris Bennett |
| Screenwriter Roger Avary has sued Microsoft Corp. and games publisher ResponDesign Inc. for $30 million plus punitive damages. Avary claims that the yoga game "Yourself! Fitness", recently [read more]mardi, 23 novembre 2004 | David Spratley |
| EA has made an offer to buy all the outstanding shares of Swedish developer Digital Illusions CE, known for its Battlefield and Rallisport Challenge series.
Coverage at http://shorl.com/balimytetuta [read more]mardi, 23 novembre 2004 | David Spratley |
| Two new rival DVD formats are preparing for hostilities similar to those that occurred between VHS and Beta in the 1980s. Both formats -- "Blu Ray", which is backed by Sony, and "HD [read more]mardi, 23 novembre 2004 | David Spratley |
| A California law firm is attempting to certify a class action on behalf of Electronic Arts employees who claim that EA owes them unpaid overtime pay. The dispute revolves around whether EA improperly [read more]mardi, 23 novembre 2004 | David Spratley |
| The Beijing Haidian District People's Court has heard its first lawsuit brought by game developers against their employers. Two game developers who worked on a game but were not listed as [read more]mardi, 23 novembre 2004 | David Spratley |
| A disgruntled Xbox owner has started an action against Microsoft in the Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming that his Xbox lost its ability to read discs after less than a year of use. The action [read more]jeudi, 4 novembre 2004 | David Spratley |
| Video games are growing in popularity and pulling audiences away from more traditional forms of entertainment such as movies and television. And where audiences go, advertisers are quick to follow [read more]mercredi, 3 novembre 2004 | David Spratley |
| World Wrestling Entertainment has sued video game publisher THQ and its joint-venture partner Jakks Pacific Inc. in response to what the WWE calls a "commercial bribery scheme". WWE [read more]mercredi, 3 novembre 2004 | Chris Bennett |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Washington State introduced legislation penalizing the distribution of violent video games to minors. Video game manufacturers, distributors, retailers and software [read more]jeudi, 15 juillet 2004 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Sony manufactured and sold PlayStation games on CD-ROMs for which it owned the copyright. To protect its copyright, Sony imbedded an "access code" [read more]jeudi, 24 juin 2004 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
The Court considered whether a licence authorizing the use of a patent to make and sell a product protected a third party purchaser from liability for patent [read more]vendredi, 28 mai 2004 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
321 Studios is the maker of “DVD Copy Plus”, a product that makes backup personal copies of movies on DVD. A U.S. federal court in California ruled [read more]jeudi, 19 février 2004 | Chris Bennett |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
This case challenged the constitutionality of an ordinance of St.Louis County, which made it unlawful to knowingly sell, rent, make available, or permit the [read more]mardi, 3 juin 2003 | Chris Bennett |
| A long running dispute between the World Wresting Federation (the "Federation") and the World Wide Fund for Nature(the "Fund") over the use of the initials "WWF," in a logo referred to as the "Scratch" [read more]jeudi, 27 mars 2003 | Dani Lemon |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
Morrison alleged that the POKEMON trade-mark caused reverse confusion with its MONSTER IN MY POCKET mark, and applied for summary judgment. That application [read more]mercredi, 1 janvier 2003 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
James et al.v.Meow Media et al.,
2002 FED App. 0270P (6thCir.),
US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 00-5922 (August 13, 2002)
On December [read more]mardi, 13 août 2002 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Sony manufactured and sold PlayStation games on CD-ROMs for which it owned the copyright. To protect its copyright, Sony imbedded an "access code" [read more]vendredi, 26 juillet 2002 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
In this case the court denied a summary judgment application on the grounds that the defendant required full discovery in order to defend itself against [read more]mardi, 1 janvier 2002 | David Spratley |
| On November 22, 1997, thirteen-year-old Noah Wilson died when his friend Yancy stabbed him in the chest with a kitchen knife. Noah's mother, Andrea Wilson, sued Midway Games, Inc., alleging that [read more]mardi, 1 janvier 2002 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Nintendo wanted to have an opportunity to question the family doctor of a child who allegedly developed epileptic seizures after playing Nintendo games. The [read more]mercredi, 28 novembre 2001 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
The plaintiff association brought a freedom of speech challenge to an Indianapolis ordinance that restricted access to anyone under 18 to arcade games that were [read more]mercredi, 21 mars 2001 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
Nintendo produces the GameBoy as well as a number of accessories including the GameLink, GameCamera and the GameBoy Printer. Battery Technology Inc. ('BTI”) [read more]lundi, 1 janvier 2001 | Chris Bennett |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
GE sued Nintendo, claiming that several of Nintendo's game systems (including the Gameboy) infringed GE's patents. The lower court ruled in favour of [read more]vendredi, 1 janvier 1999 | Chris Bennett |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
Duke Nukem 3-D (DN 3-D) was shipped with a Build Editor which allowed fans to create their own levels for DN 3-D. Players were encouraged to build their own [read more]jeudi, 1 janvier 1998 | Chris Bennett |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
In this 1997 Pennsylvania case, the plaintiff, who had created an unpublished manuscript called “Awesome Possum,” brought a copyright infringement [read more]vendredi, 20 juin 1997 | Dani Lemon |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
Three individuals modelled for Midway, which designs, manufactures, and sells video games including “Mortal Kombat” and “Mortal Kombat II” [read more]mercredi, 28 mai 1997 | Chris Bennett |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
Nintendo alleged that Prima Communications had infringed its copyright in the "GoldenEye 007" video game by publishing the "GoldenEye 007 Unauthorized [read more]mercredi, 1 janvier 1997 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
MAPHIA was a San Francisco-based BBS provider whose users had been uploading and downloading Sega video games without authorization. SEGA was able to prove that [read more]mercredi, 18 décembre 1996 |
| (This is an archived case summary)
The Court of Appeal affirmed the District Court's decision enjoining Brown from selling video game cartridges that infringed copyrights and trade-marks owned [read more]lundi, 1 janvier 1996 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Nintendo appealed a District Court ruling that awarded Alpex Computer Corporation $253 million in damages (equivalent to a 6% royalty) for patent infringement [read more]lundi, 1 janvier 1996 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
C&E Inc. produced the SuperUFO, a device which plugs into Nintendo game consoles and allows the user to format disks, copy games and play copied games. [read more]lundi, 1 janvier 1996 | Chris Bennett |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Edward Gussin, who had invented an electronic drawing and colouring system, tried to claim that Nintendo's “Mario Paint” infringed his patent [read more]jeudi, 3 août 1995 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
NTN developed an interactive game played in conjunction with televised football called "QB1", which it licensed to Interactive to sell together with [read more]dimanche, 1 janvier 1995 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
The defendants, NTDEC and Megasoff Inc., appealed a default judgment issued by the District Court to Nintendo on the basis of copyright and trade-mark infringement [read more]dimanche, 1 janvier 1995 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
In 1994, Capcom sought a preliminary injunction to prevent Data East from producing, marketing or selling “Fighter's History” anywhere in the [read more]vendredi, 18 mars 1994 | Chris Bennett |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Midway owned the copyright and related trade-marks for the video game “Mortal Kombat". PIL published a book entitled “Strategies for Mortal [read more]samedi, 1 janvier 1994 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
Dragon Pacific International was a Taiwanese business which produced and distributed multi-game cartridges for the Nintendo game console. The games stored on [read more]samedi, 1 janvier 1994 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Nintendo appealed a District Court ruling that the Game Genie does not violate any Nintendo copyrights. The Game Genie is a device that is placed between the [read more]jeudi, 21 mai 1992 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
In the course of a copyright infringement suit alleging Omni Video Games had infringed its copyrights in “Pac-Man", “Rally X", and “Galaxian" Midway Manufacturing [read more]lundi, 4 novembre 1991 | Dani Lemon |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
Nintendo applied for a preliminary injunction prohibiting the sale of Game Genies in Canada. Nintendo argued that Camerica was depreciating the goodwill of [read more]mardi, 1 janvier 1991 | Chris Bennett |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
Nintendo sought an order declaring the defendants to be in contempt of a court order restraining them from trading in an infringing multi-game video game [read more]mardi, 1 janvier 1991 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
The plaintiffs objected to the notice to consumers and terms of a proposed settlement between Nintendo and the fifty state attorneys general over a national [read more]mardi, 1 janvier 1991 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Numerous states sued Nintendo under antitrust laws. The parties agreed to settle, and drafted a settlement agreement. The Attorneys General of all 50 states [read more]mardi, 1 janvier 1991 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
On behalf of retail purchasers in California, the plaintiffs alleged that Nintendo had violated California antitrust laws through its monopoly on video game [read more]lundi, 1 janvier 1990 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Accolade and the defendants entered into a licence agreement under which the defendants were to develop the video game "The Duel -- Test Drive II" [read more]lundi, 1 janvier 1990 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
A mother brought a wrongful death action against TSR, the manufacturer of the pen-and-paper roleplaying game “Dungeons& Dragons”, for the suicide [read more]lundi, 1 janvier 1990 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
This case addressed the constitutionality of Quebec legislation prohibiting commercial advertising directed at persons less than thirteen years of age. A key [read more]jeudi, 27 avril 1989 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
This was an action by Nintendo challenging the validity of Magnavox's “Television Gaming Apparatus” patent, issued in 1972, and the infringement [read more]dimanche, 1 janvier 1989 | Dani Lemon |
| (This is an archived case summary)
This was an appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in favour of counterclaims brought by the defendants, [read more]mercredi, 1 janvier 1986 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
This case involved two gorillas, King Kong and Donkey Kong, and the rights of their respective owners, plaintiff Universal City Studios, Inc. (“Universal”), [read more]mardi, 1 janvier 1985 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Universal City Studios (“Universal”), claiming ownership of the trade-mark “King Kong”, sued Nintendo Co. Ltd. and Nintendo of America, [read more]dimanche, 1 janvier 1984 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Atari and Midway obtained an injunction against Tryom, whose game “Gobbleman” or “Nibbleman” embodied characters, symbols, and non-functional [read more]jeudi, 17 novembre 1983 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
This 1983 judgment of the District Court of Nebraska found the defendants liable for copyright and trademark infringement of three Midway coin-operated arcade [read more]jeudi, 1 septembre 1983 | Dani Lemon |
| (This is an archived case summary.)
Arctic International sold two types of circuit boards for coin-operated video games. The first increased the rate of play of "Galaxian" a video [read more]samedi, 1 janvier 1983 | Chris Bennett |
| (This is an archived case summary)
This was one of the first Canadian cases to consider whether copyright could attach to the source code of a game. The defendant's game units would flash [read more]mercredi, 8 décembre 1982 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Magnavox claimed that Mattel had, through the manufacture, use and sale of Intellivision video games, infringed Magnavox's “Television Gaming Apparatus” [read more]mercredi, 21 juillet 1982 | Dani Lemon |
| (This is an archived case summary)
The plaintiff wanted to open a restaurant with forty tables equipped with built-in coin-operated video games, thus allowing patrons to dine and blast space invaders [read more]vendredi, 1 janvier 1982 | David Spratley |
| (This is an archived case summary)
Nintendo sought and received an injunction against Elcon, who had been importing circuit boards manufactured by Falcon into the United States. Falcon was a past [read more]vendredi, 1 janvier 1982 | David Spratley |
| Williams Electronics Inc. v. Artic International is a key case which established that copyright exists in video games.
Williams Electronics manufactured and sold a coin-operated electronic video [read more]vendredi, 1 janvier 1982 | Chris Bennett |
| The defendant published a game called “Jawbreaker” which was created by John Harris. Harris admitted to getting the idea from “Pac-Man”. Jawbreaker was already being marketed [read more]lundi, 28 décembre 1981 | David Spratley |
|
RessourcesContact Us
About Us: Video Games & Interactive Entertainment Law
Summary of Video Game Case Law (PDF)
Subscribe to Davis LLP - Video Game Law Blog by Email
Follow Davis LLP on Twitter
Compétences
Archives |
