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Game developer David Jaffe has posted on his personal blog what appears to be a dismissal notice of a 2008 lawsuit against him and Sony over God of War. There is no further explanation given, so unless Jaffe is starting some obtuse alternate reality game, we’ll take the document at face value.

The lawsuit was an alleged copyright infringement claim, filed by a pair of plaintiffs who had submitted a screenplay entitled Olympiad to Sony Pictures in 2002. At the time, they claimed there were several similarities between their work and God of War. Sony called the alleged similarities “inaccurate, incomplete, abstracted and/or misleading.” Apparently a judge in the northern district court of California agreed.

[Via Kotaku]

God of War copyright suit dismissed, Jaffe reveals document originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After successfully fighting a cease and desist order by Vivendi Universal five years ago, the unofficial continuation to the King’s Quest series has been shut down for good. In 2005, fans successfully convinced Vivendi to allow the indie team behind The Silver Lining to continue development, thanks in part to a letter writing campaign. The original deal would see the game’s authorized release as part of a non-commercial fan license; however, current King’s Quest IP holder Activision has decided (after “talks and negotiations”) it is not interested in entering a similar agreement with the indie team. In 2008, Activision said it didn’t have any immediate plans to utilize the classic licenses (including King’s Quest) it received in the infamous $18 billion merger with Vivendi.

What concludes is eight long years of development by a dedicated fan base. On the fan project’s official site, a letter from the development team thanks fans for their continued support and shares its disappointment in the decision. It’s always difficult when hard work goes unnoticed and we wish everyone involved the best of luck.

[Thanks, Chris]

Activision shuts down fan-made King’s Quest sequel originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Finally, Tomonobu Itagaki can have a restful night of sleep in his sunglasses. The ongoing legal dispute between the Dead or Alive creator and former employer Tecmo, over unpaid salary and bonuses, has ended in a settlement. Itagaki announced the resolution of the dispute in a public statement.

Itagaki didn’t specify the terms, but we can only imagine a copy of Dead or Alive Paradise was involved. “How could I resist?” we imagine him saying, “It’s my own private paradise, in the palm of my hand!”

As for things Itagaki actually said, the statement (per Andriasang’s translation) revealed that he’s working on something new: “I cannot wait for the day when I can announce to everyone the new title that I’m currently conceiving.” Itagaki’s aiming for “world class entertainment” with “a greater depth of play than before.”

Itagaki’s suit against Tecmo ends in settlement originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The avalanche of bad days keep rolling at the SouthPeak offices as today the UK High Court has once again sided against the publisher in its longstanding legal battle against distributor CDV. In the most recent decision, the court ruled in favor of CDV that SouthPeak was liable for inducing copyright infringement. In 2009, the same high court ruled that Gamecock, a SouthPeak subsidiary, had failed to submit four titles early enough for the 2008 holiday season, costing the publisher to the tune of about $3.1 million.

In the current legal battle, German distributor CDV claimed SouthPeak had induced copyright infringement and breach of contract and legal costs. While the new ruling favors the distributor’s claims of infringement and legal costs, the court did not find SouthPeak in breach of its contract with CDV. SouthPeak also faces claims from other former partner companies.

In a statement to the court, the preceding judge said she had noted that CDV was able to prove SouthPeak US “has both participated in, and authorized, the infringing activities in relation to the making, distribution, and sale.” According to GamesIndustry.biz, SouthPeak’s recently reported loss of $2.6 million for its second financial quarter ending on December 31, 2009, can (in part) be attributed to the UK high court’s previous ruling.

UK court rules in favor of CDV against SouthPeak again originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just when our hopes for a third Mortal Kombat film were at their highest, a new legal battle has to come and crush them into the dirt. According to The Wrap, the new film — a recently rumored reboot from Warner Bros — has run into legal troubles. It seems that Threshold Entertainment has taken Warner Bros to court, claiming that it had a licensing agreement with Midway before the company was acquired by Warner Bros. Threshold, which worked with Midway on the first two Mortal Kombat films, claims the two companies extended their agreement in 2006 to make a third film, and states further that this agreement was upheld by a bankruptcy court after Midway’s acquisition.

Now, the company is suing Warner Bros. on the grounds that it “failed to work with Threshold in the development and production of the third ‘Mortal Kombat’ film.” Potential damages are to be specified later. Whatever the damages may be, it’s hard to imagine they could be any more damaging than releasing a third Mortal Kombat film.

[Via GamePro]

Rumored third Mortal Kombat movie hits legal snag originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Despite PopCap’s claim to appeal the original ruling of the lawsuit between it and MumboJumbo, a judge has awarded another $2.7 million to MumboJumbo citing “legal fees,” according to Develop. 193rd Civil District Court Judge Carl Ginsberg ruled earlier this week that PopCap would be burdened with the amount (which includes $525,000 in “post-verdict appeals”), making the total sum that MumboJumbo receives $7.3 million.

The case originally derived from an alleged breach of contract on PopCap’s part regarding the right to sell its own games in North America — in so many words, the lawsuit found that PopCap had illegally broken an agreement with MumboJumbo and sold/marketed said games in NA (those monsters!). That said, the agreement was for MumboJumbo to handle that sales/marketing, thus making PopCap in breach of contract in doing so. Sound confusing? It’s business, folks. We’re right there with you.

PopCap loses another $2.7m to MumboJumbo originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Konami announced yesterday that Upper Deck had been forced to settle with the company after allegedly printing hundreds of thousands of faked Yu-Gi-Oh! cards in China and bringing them stateside. On any other day, this news would just be kind of funny, but it’s elevated by attorney for Upper Deck Richard Howell who said “At this point, Upper Deck doesn’t have a lot of Life Points. We’re talking about behavior that, from a defense attorney’s standpoint, I can’t defend and I am not going to defend. I’m here defending a counterfeiter. And now I have to deal with that issue.”

That’s right: Life Points. Dude learned enough about Yu-Gi-Oh! to drop Yu-Gi-Oh! references. Man, that’s the kind of lawyer you want to have. … Unless, we guess, you’re Upper Deck, in which case, it seems like you probably could have chosen a guy that didn’t tell people how guilty you were.

Like a mean cousin, Upper Deck steals Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! cards originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a recent legal battle fought in the Dallas courts, casual game publisher MumboJumbo was awarded $4.6 million in “damages” from … casual game publisher PopCap Games? Really! According to a press release announcing MumboJumbo’s win, the two companies entered into a publishing agreement in 2006 “whereby MumboJumbo would produce, distribute and sell certain PopCap games in North America.” Following the trial, a Dallas jury “agreed that PopCap breached the contract when it went behind MumboJumbo’s back and decided to market and sell its games on its own.”

When we contacted PopCap for comment, a representative told us: “PopCap continues to believe that it did nothing wrong in this case, and will vigorously pursue its claims and defend itself through the appeals process.” That said, given the basis of the jury’s verdict (again, according the MumboJumbo’s press release) is allegedly based on “PopCap’s own internal e-mail messages, which showed the company employed a calculated use of false and misleading statements,” we’re not exactly sure how well the appeals process will go.

MumboJumbo wins $4.6 million in lawsuit against PopCap, PopCap appealing verdict originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In April of 2009, Rockstar Games settled out of court with with “over 100″ Rockstar San Diego employees to the tune of $2.75 million (approximately $27,500 per person). The case, “Garrett Flynn, et al. v. Angel Studios, Inc./Rockstar Games et al.,” was filed on August 21, 2006, by ex-Rockstar San Diego 3D artists Terri-Kim Chuckry and Garrett Flynn on behalf of themselves and fellow 3D artists, alleging that Angel Studios/Rockstar San Diego had “failed to pay overtime compensation … to certain Angel employees whose primary duties are or were to create, produce, copy and/or install images into video games, using commercial or in-house software computer programs.”

Sound familiar? That’s likely due to the past week’s barrage of Rockstar Games employees speaking out against alleged quality of life issues at the developer’s various studios, including claims of “numerous non-exempt designers and artists have had their overtime pay cut as a result for being ‘too senior.’”

In a press release issued after the settlement, Rockstar Games refuted the lawsuit’s claims. “Angel denies the allegations in the lawsuit and admits no liability or wrongdoing in settlement.” The settlement document (obtained earlier today by Joystiq) also spells out Rockstar’s reasons for settling the suit, saying “further litigation would be protracted and expensive for all parties.” Unsurprisingly, the company also contested in the settlement that a ruling against it was “relatively unlikely” for a number of reasons.

That said, when a multi-billion dollar corporation settles a suit with its employees out of court and awards them nearly $3 million in compensation, that’s quite a statement unto itself — regardless of the great lengths at which the final court settlement goes to deny that claim. We’ve contacted Rockstar Games for comment and haven’t heard back as of publishing.

Rockstar quietly settled class-action lawsuit with ‘over 100′ ex-Rockstar San Diego employees originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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