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.
/http://xboxfreedom.com/the-elder-scrolls-skyrim-details-revealed/
IIRC in America corporations are treated like individuals in many instances now, thanks to some coc--- err some lobbyist controlled politicians.
Thus to anthropomorphize a company isnt terribly out of line. Aside from that note, it tends to simplify things when conversing about a group or object. I could also go into gender identity of nouns, such as in German iirc something like say a sweater would be refered to as 'she' after the initial mentioning of 'sweater'. Americans tend to use a gender neutral when referencing nonliving things or objects that don't resemble something with a set gender.
Probably more information than you wanted, and my apologies if it was hard to follow, I sometimes flounder when trying to articulate things into easily digestible format.
Late 2011- Official Mojang vs. Bethesda trial. Mojang loses due to Bethesda's lawyers' twisting the truth and propaganda. Mojang loses and Bethesda wins the rights to Mojang and Minecraft. Immediately afterwards, half the community quits.
Mid 2012- Due to the decrease in players, Bethesda desperately adds stupid updates to Minecraft.
Late 2012- Almost everyone has quit Minecraft. Bethesda pulls the plug and quits developing.
By 2013 Minecraft is officially dead.
Come on Bethesda... really? How about you copyright the whole dictionary while you're at it, and sue every company in the world.
English is a language, not a marketting subject. Get off your high horse.
oh yes, going on a site made for a game and then calling the maker of the game stupid and insulting said game, im sure nobody could tell that your trolling
"Have you played this beast game scrolls?"
"Have you played this completely epic win game Skyrim?"
HOW IS THAT CONFUSING?
/rant
I don't have his email address. But since he's pretty much the head guy over there, he would be the one who can call the lawyers off.
I really think though that Mojang should be like David vs Goliath. A little guy standing his ground against a giant. What case does Bethesda have, really? Is there an existing legal precedence for suing someone over the use of a single word? I've never heard of such a thing.
I find it ironic that this whole thing comes down right when Minecraft celebrates its 3-millionth sale. What judge can honestly look at a case like this and not be enraged for having his time wasted.
Independent game developers are the true future of the industry. Corporate-owned developers are so bound by only the quest for the allmighty dollar that creativity has all but died. Speaking entirely for myself, I haven't gotten as much out of a single player game as I have from MineCraft... EVER! I'm not even running any mods. I'm not even playing anything else right now. Nothing this engrossing exists on the market from anything the corporate suits have put out.
If small, indie developers like Mojang allow themselves to be bullied over something this insignificant, then the ones that stand to make the most difference won't last long enough to do so.