Notch got sued...

[Jagos]

So here's the skinny:

Notch got sued for his game possibly confusing people with Elder Scrolls. The name of his game is "Scrolls" for a card game.

Notch challenged Bethesda to a Quake game. The lawyers decided that Quake is for wimps. And they want to bully Notch into abandoning the word "Scrolls" for a game.

And Bethesda has not heard about Tim Langdell, who obviously tried unsuccessfully to trademark the word "edge".

So now, Bethesda stands to lose good will with the community, the lawyers have gotten overzealous in IP issues and the fact remains that no matter how Bethesda wins, they lose customers. Can anyone else say "Dumb decisions?"

[Bard The 5th LW]

I'm a bit less inclined to get Skyrim now.

[rpgdemon]

Originally Posted by Bard The 5th LW

I'm a bit less inclined to get Skyrim now.

I'm a bit more inclined to get Skyrim used now.

[Magus]

Didn't we already have this topic? In fact I think Jagos was the creator of it...must have deja vu, I dunno...

EDIT: Oh, I see, he's actually getting sued now instead of just getting cease and desist letters.

Yeah this is never going to happen for them. You can't copyright one word without proving that there are massive similarities between the games and there are not. They play totally differently.

[rpgdemon]

You can't trademark a single word, and you can't copyright words at all. When you do have a trademark, it applies to a specific something, and not all usages of the word, though if Bethesda did have the trademark on Scrolls, it would probably be applicable here, as usage of "Scrolls" in videogames. But again, can't trademark a single term. I actually looked into trademark laws awhile ago because of a design that I had created that I'd gotten printed onto tees to sell, just in case.

[Aerozord]

Originally Posted by rpgdemon

You can't trademark a single word, and you can't copyright words at all. When you do have a trademark, it applies to a specific something, and not all usages of the word, though if Bethesda did have the trademark on Scrolls, it would probably be applicable here, as usage of "Scrolls" in videogames. But again, can't trademark a single term. I actually looked into trademark laws awhile ago because of a design that I had created that I'd gotten printed onto tees to sell, just in case.

kinda, you can if its associated enough with your product to the point there is a reasonable chance they would confuse the two. Trademarks exist for that reason.

Now they still dont have a case. No one associates "scrolls" with the elder scrolls. Hell few people associate "the elder scrolls" with the elder scrolls series.

edit: this is hard to prove at any time. Legal battles for this are normally less about your actual claim and more about deliberate attempt to confuse customers. No one is going to look at these two games and think that

[McTahr]

Originally Posted by Aerozord

e. Legal battles for this are normally less about your actual claim and more about deliberate attempt to confuse customers. No one familiar with games is going to look at these two games and think that

Just saying. It's an important stipulation when you're considering courts of old people.

E: Which is to say even though it shouldn't, it might!

[Marc v4.0]

Originally Posted by McTahr

Just saying. It's an important stipulation when you're considering courts of old people.

E: Which is to say even though it shouldn't, it might!

Originally Posted by Marc v1.0

Grandma is gonna get real confused when she goes to buy the latest hit, Skyrim, for little junior snot-nose and all she sees are miles of completely digital copies of a game called Scrolls The Elder Scrolls: V

^

[Amake]

Originally Posted by Aerozord

Hell few people associate "the elder scrolls" with the elder scrolls series.

Just what I was thinking. Are there still people alive who played the original or second Elder Scrolls? I have never met anyone who did.

Also, Bethesda? Taintbags. Even if the "The Elder Scrolls" part of the title of your franchiese had any significance, and even if you could make a case that the word "Scrolls" by itself is harmful to your business if used by unauthorized personnel, you've got a horde of expensive lawyers in fine shoes stomping on a tiny indie developer that's likely to be crippled by any court costs whatsoever. That's not good business unless you're North Korea, so you're also immensely stupid taintbags.

And it's a pretty ridiculous case to make. It's as if the Tolkien estate went around and sued everything with the word "Rings" in its name. Onion rings, Simak's Ring Around the Sun, and especially a straight-up parody like Bored of the Rings can't possibly be a milder brand name infringement. Maybe if they change it to The Younger Scrolls they'll be protected by parody laws?

[Aerozord]

Originally Posted by McTahr

Just saying. It's an important stipulation when you're considering courts of old people.

E: Which is to say even though it shouldn't, it might!

you misconstrue, I dont mean the judge has to be able to, I mean the consumer. Judges often rule on matters beyond their knowledge base, thats why they bring in experts to give their analysis. What matters is if the person buying the game would be confused.

Originally Posted by Amake

Also, Bethesda? Taintbags. Even if the "The Elder Scrolls" part of the title of your franchiese had any significance, and even if you could make a case that the word "Scrolls" by itself is harmful to your business if used by unauthorized personnel, you've got a horde of expensive lawyers in fine shoes stomping on a tiny indie developer that's likely to be crippled by any court costs whatsoever.

tiny =/= poor. Minecraft has given notch's company tens of millions of dollars. Not to mention all the good will he's earned. I bet there are people in this very thread that would buy extra copies of minecraft just to give him more money to throw at this.

If court costs run high enough to "cripple" him, then Bethesda will be hurting bad too