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.

[Jagos]

It's not copyright, it's a trademark issue.

[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.

[Seil]

[Magus]

Trademark, copyright, big diff.

[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!