UPDATE NOTE
There seems to be some (understandable) confusion in regards to where the lawsuit is coming from. To clarify, "Bethesda Softworks" (publisher and developer of game titles) and "Bethesda Game Studios" (Creators of games like Oblivion, Skyrim etc.) are not the same entity. BGS is an in-house game-making team led by Todd Howard which is one part of Bethesda Softworks, and has no direct connection to the lawsuit in progress by Bethesda Softworks. Unless further specified by the acronym "BGS", any references to Bethesda in the following article assume "Bethesda Softworks". Sorry about the confusion!
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Mojang has been in development of another project (which we went over in our last installment), which bears the working name "Scrolls". Bethesda has expressed concern that players could mix up this new game with their own "Elder Scrolls" series, although the two seem to share no noticeable similarities beyond the word "scrolls".
Notch said that their office received a 15-page cease-and-desist letter, claiming that Mojang would be sued for rights to the word, along with formal requests for legal fees. He went on to say that they are attempting to establish talks with Bethesda regarding the word, to find an amicable solution for both parties. At the time of this writing, there was no available response from Bethesda.
We will continue to update this article as information becomes available.
Notch said that their office received a 15-page cease-and-desist letter, claiming that Mojang would be sued for rights to the word, along with formal requests for legal fees. He went on to say that they are attempting to establish talks with Bethesda regarding the word, to find an amicable solution for both parties. At the time of this writing, there was no available response from Bethesda.
We will continue to update this article as information becomes available.
Agreed...
So many uneducated, ignorant people here.
"No one thinks of the elder scrolls when someone says skyrim or oblivion or morrowind or daggerfall or arena!"
But thats how theyre ****ing called. every single game of them has the name 'THE ELDER SCROLLS number: name'. every single ****ing one of them. I do think of TES when I think of the TES series.
"No one can copyright a word lol"
fun fact: not just 'the elder scrolls' or 'elder scrolls' is copyrighted.
so yes they can. The elder scrolls are just words, but they are copyrighted. 'Scrolls' isnt really something you can confuse with 'the elder scrolls: skyrim', but they have a point.
also, try to name your gaming brand 'apple'. lets see how long it takes apple to sue you, even if its just a single world, and also just a food item.
"Notch dont change it to **** them off xd"
do i really have to explain that? Its not going to **** them off as much as mojang will get sued.
"lol they so mad xd"
stupid memes arent going to do anything.
They could be mad, but they could also just want to sue notch, but they could also have plans with the name 'scrolls', or actually just think 'the elder scrolls' is pretty similiar to 'scrolls', for games with magic.
"bethesda sux!!"
YO MOMMA
" teeeheee 'scrolls'! there, sue me bethesda!"
**** off, if you dont know how copyrights are, then why even post.
the RIGHT in the copyRIGHT hints that its about the RIGHT to use the word for something.
"why are these lawyer guys so mean and dont discuss with notch"
because notch is very unprofessional. Look what he said:
We suggested a compromise where we’d agree to never put any words in front of “Scrolls”, and instead call sequels and other things something along the lines of “Scrolls - The Banana Expansion”.
im sorry, but a competent lawyer doesnt discuss with that, since all of it is just really really unclear. So they get straight to the point: 'your copyright applications conflicts with ours. dont use that or get sued'. I dont know why thats even discussed here.
on a final note, notch doesnt do this right. the 'im just an indie dev, stop you big meanyhead companies!' doesnt work anymore, he sold 3 million copys of his one and only game in beta.
covered some ******** in this thread, the 'bethesda =/= bethesda' was already explained in the first post. read it, guys.
A name or title cannnot be copyrighted, but it can be trademarked.
This is very true aswell.
Posting about it on twitter and your blog and leaving out details sounds like he wants to mobilize his fanbase against bethesda.
and looking at this thread, it worked.
@Mulch
oh, i was reading 'COPYRIGHT COPYRIGHT' everywhere, so i used it myself
...because I'm already getting BF3, Halo (Re-)CE, and a few other awesome games that are coming out this holiday season. Can't spread myself too thin...unless Skyrim has sum multiplayer.
How can you know they said that, for all we know Notch was exaggerating, like he does often.
Or even flat-out lying.
What Notch did (posting some information about that) is absolutely useless and dumb.
We cant know if its true, because he doesnt even think about going into detail. yet he decides it would be smart to blog it so people get mad at bethesda
It's his personal blog. He also said duke nukem forever sucks. Does that mean he was trying to defeat it? No. Stop acting like Notch is a corrupt corporate businessman. Anyway, why would he want to compete?
Once again proof that just becuase someone is smart, it doesn't mean they're right. Do you seriously believe that, if, for example, I posted something on Facebook it means I have a secret malevolent goal?
Your one of their people obviously and mad because it makes bad publicity for their company. It is not childish that he brought it to the public. It makes a case of what the public thinks of your companies shenanigans.