Oh, thank god it's over. As an avid fan of both Minecraft and Elder Scrolls, I was more than a little nervous about this clash of titans.
IT'S NOT BLOODY OVER!!!
An interim injunction is a court order to do or stop doing something while the court case is pending. In this case, it was to stop them from using Scrolls during the case. The bloody case hasn't even started yet.
You people are going to drive me to injecting opium directly into my eyeballs.
I still dont get why would they sue them for just scrolls?
I mean what if i make an essay titling Scrolls.
OH no dont sue me!
God, people its just one word.
Okay I just can't let this go anymore.
It's precisely because of the fact that it's "just one word" that they were sued. If you try to trademark something like "The Legend of the Dusty Old Scrolls From the Land of Aramathea," no one's going to have a problem with that. You try to trademark just one simple word and suddenly you have a problem. What if I decided to make a game called "War," then try and reserve the name "War" for everything ranging from games, to movies, to books, to clothing lines, to disposable towels, and whatever else? Suddenly I have the power to sue ANYONE that even dares to so much as include the word "war" in whatever they're doing should I choose to. This is what Zenimax (FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP BASHING BETHESDA, ZENIMAX IS THE COMPANY YOU HATE HERE) was afraid of. They believed that Mojang having a trademark on the word "Scrolls" for everything under the sun would allow Mojang to sue Zenimax for violating Mojang's trademark by having the word "Scrolls" in "Elder Scrolls." Trying to trademark "just one word" is like trying to trademark water. You're going to end up screwing over a lot of people.
Now while it is very unlikely this was Mojang's intention, you can never be too careful when it comes to massive amounts of money, so Zenimax was only doing the safe thing.
TL;DR
You're not getting a tl;dr because you have to suck it up and READ. Heavens forbid you actually have to do some reading on a forum.
I really don't see why everyone is making Zenimax out to be the bad guy here for defending a potential threat to their IP. You do realize this could cause them to lose the The Elder Scrolls trademark, don't you?
Really I don't think either party is the bad guy here. The problem lies with trademark and copyright laws in general which need serious revision. That's why lawsuits like this happen so often in the first place.
This. If I remember correctly, the precedent for this kind of lawsuit dates back to the 1600's. By current copyright law, a company must enforce their monopoly on the copyrighted material, or they'll lose it. While Mojang isn't creating a direct rip-off of The Elder Scrolls, it could still constitute a threat to their monopoly.
I could keep going, but Lemunde summed it up nicely; just figured I'd add in what background information I knew. The more you know...
i don't really care all that much honestly, i doubt it will be any good most indie studios are one hit wonders and mojang already made theirs, well barely
This was a silly accusation to level against Mojang in the first place. From the sound of the English synopsis (sorry, can't read Swedish), the courts have already focused in on the critical considerations for the case to grant the injunction. I really can't imagine what Bethesda thinks they will bring up in the actual trial to trump what they've presented so far.
I would hate to see what would happen if Bethesda does win this trial. Sheesh! Words like "KNIGHT", "SWORD", and "DRAGON" will be quickly copyrighted by other developers. Upcoming games would have to feature HEAVILY-ARMORED, HONOR-BOUND LAND-OWNERS wielding BALANCED, HAND-HELD, MARTIAL BLADES against FIRE-BREATHING, FLIGHT-CAPABLE, CARNIVOROUS REPTILES of GARGANTUAN PROPORTIONS. (Ideally, a RELIGIOUSLY-INSPIRED PRACTITIONER of ARCANE and MEDICINAL ARTS would be on hand in case things go badly.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"To be. NO!--not to be! What was the question?" -Shakespeare for Teenagers
I like how Zenimax think their consumers hold "no particular awareness of differences between various titles and games."
Yes. They just called us all idiots. We just walk into a store, cry "herp derp GAME!!1" and throw down $50 on whatever has teh purty pickchurs. God forbid two boxes have similar titles; a small rip in reality may form in our feeble minds. Sigh.
Let's say your mommy told you to clean your room. But you want ice cream. You go and get the ice cream and your mommy finds you with the bowl. She tells you that you have to clean your room before you get ice cream. But your daddy comes home and tells mommy to let you eat the ice cream while you clean your room since you already got it out. Yay daddy! But you still have to clean your room.
Not like Bethesda had a chance against a title that's still in its beta and alpha stages AND got over 3 million?* sells. *Not sure if 3 million or what.*
I mean what if i make an essay titling Scrolls.
OH no dont sue me!
God, people its just one word.
IT'S NOT BLOODY OVER!!!
An interim injunction is a court order to do or stop doing something while the court case is pending. In this case, it was to stop them from using Scrolls during the case. The bloody case hasn't even started yet.
You people are going to drive me to injecting opium directly into my eyeballs.
Okay I just can't let this go anymore.
It's precisely because of the fact that it's "just one word" that they were sued. If you try to trademark something like "The Legend of the Dusty Old Scrolls From the Land of Aramathea," no one's going to have a problem with that. You try to trademark just one simple word and suddenly you have a problem. What if I decided to make a game called "War," then try and reserve the name "War" for everything ranging from games, to movies, to books, to clothing lines, to disposable towels, and whatever else? Suddenly I have the power to sue ANYONE that even dares to so much as include the word "war" in whatever they're doing should I choose to. This is what Zenimax (FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP BASHING BETHESDA, ZENIMAX IS THE COMPANY YOU HATE HERE) was afraid of. They believed that Mojang having a trademark on the word "Scrolls" for everything under the sun would allow Mojang to sue Zenimax for violating Mojang's trademark by having the word "Scrolls" in "Elder Scrolls." Trying to trademark "just one word" is like trying to trademark water. You're going to end up screwing over a lot of people.
Now while it is very unlikely this was Mojang's intention, you can never be too careful when it comes to massive amounts of money, so Zenimax was only doing the safe thing.
TL;DR
You're not getting a tl;dr because you have to suck it up and READ. Heavens forbid you actually have to do some reading on a forum.
:clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap:
EDIT: Oh, and Sgt Grumbles, that +1 Rep is for your TL;DR, because reading is power
This. If I remember correctly, the precedent for this kind of lawsuit dates back to the 1600's. By current copyright law, a company must enforce their monopoly on the copyrighted material, or they'll lose it. While Mojang isn't creating a direct rip-off of The Elder Scrolls, it could still constitute a threat to their monopoly.
I could keep going, but Lemunde summed it up nicely; just figured I'd add in what background information I knew. The more you know...
I would hate to see what would happen if Bethesda does win this trial. Sheesh! Words like "KNIGHT", "SWORD", and "DRAGON" will be quickly copyrighted by other developers. Upcoming games would have to feature HEAVILY-ARMORED, HONOR-BOUND LAND-OWNERS wielding BALANCED, HAND-HELD, MARTIAL BLADES against FIRE-BREATHING, FLIGHT-CAPABLE, CARNIVOROUS REPTILES of GARGANTUAN PROPORTIONS. (Ideally, a RELIGIOUSLY-INSPIRED PRACTITIONER of ARCANE and MEDICINAL ARTS would be on hand in case things go badly.)
-Shakespeare for Teenagers
Yes. They just called us all idiots. We just walk into a store, cry "herp derp GAME!!1" and throw down $50 on whatever has teh purty pickchurs. God forbid two boxes have similar titles; a small rip in reality may form in our feeble minds. Sigh.
Actually Mojang was the one trying to do something like that. ZENIMAX (NOT BETHESDA) was the one suing them for trying.
Let's say your mommy told you to clean your room. But you want ice cream. You go and get the ice cream and your mommy finds you with the bowl. She tells you that you have to clean your room before you get ice cream. But your daddy comes home and tells mommy to let you eat the ice cream while you clean your room since you already got it out. Yay daddy! But you still have to clean your room.
No, no, don't cry. Here:
Look, it's Elmo!
Edit:
vv-*sigh*-vv