Minecraft Forums

They didn't win. It was a preliminary. Bethesda/Zenimax can still appeal, but at least the name can be Scrolls.

* They won the PRELIMINARY. My mistake, but the lawsuit is still going on.

Bethesda isnt evil. They just have very stupid lawyers.

Im happy to hear that Scrolls will stay Scrolls.

yay go mojang

Quote from Jay-The-Dude

im hoping Minecraft yields this one

He TRIED! This is what you're not getting, he offered to give up the "Scrolls" title and ZeniMax is still suing.

Wait, by "Scrolls" do you mean "Scrolls" or "Elder Scrolls"? I'm confused now.

:tongue.gif:

They shoulda offered to play TF2 instead.
I'm glad for Notch.

Quote from elementblue78

Have any of you even looked into what the entire lawsuit was about, or are you all just going by the VERY little information that Notch provided you on his blog? I'm not saying Mojang and Notch were wrong, but Notch's passive-aggressive attitude was childish at best. I thought his Quake challenge was a joke, but everyone keeps bringing it up like he was serious... That's not how the real world works, people.

At first, Notch was actually trying to OWN the word Scrolls, so if their original trademark would have been granted, they could have sued Zenimax for making an Elder Scrolls game. I haven't kept up with the lawsuit too much (but at least I'm not pretending like I know everything about it either), but I don't think that trademark was granted. At least I hope not...

I'm glad Mojang gets to use "Scrolls" as the title, but this whole situation actually hurt Notch a lot more than Zenimax in my opinion. I highly doubt Zenimax made the lawsuit for no other purpose than to attack Mojang. I've also seen other people mention that if they didn't sue Mojang, then they'd be setting a precedent and leaving themselves open for attacks from other companies as well. Unless you are all law majors and know exactly how this lawsuit worked, then you should probably calm down and stop being so ignorant about the whole situation.

I think Notch has to realize that he's actually running a business now, and he's not a "small" indie developer anymore. People watch what he says and does now, and he needs to start acting a little more mature...

Well, if people are interested in the whole "I must wear a business suit and try to lower the octave of my speaking voice because I have to maintain my status in society as a business owner now," thing, then the above is true. I'm a full supporter of people dropping the stupid act, because that's all it is. I'm also in perfect favor of what Notch suggested and the spirit in which it was intended.

I'll put money down on something. Notch had no idea that his application for a trademark on the word "Scrolls" was any different that his application for the word "Minecraft". He's a game-developer, not a copyright lawyer. I think his plan was to secure a title for one of Mojang's new games--that's all. Furthermore, he had every right to apply for it. Bethesda's lawyers detected the possible copyright conflict if Mojang should secure the word, and they took the appropriate legal action.

Now let's talk maturity. Notch receives notification of the pending lawsuit and the reasons for it. He responds by basically saying, "Oh, we had no idea the trademark would cause a problem. Don't worry, my company will withdraw the application." Bethesda and Zenimax decide to take them to court anyway. Maturity!? This is the same as a spoiled child arguing about a game of checkers against his little sister because he thinks he can win the game easily if the she makes a mistake:

"HA!!! If you move there I can triple-jump you!!!"
"Hold on, I wasn't done yet. I'm still thinking. Thanks for telling me, though."
"You took your finger off of it! It's my turn now!"
"But I'm still thinking. We agreed you have to say 'Your turn.'"
"NOOO!!! You took your finger off of it--it's my turn! Those are the REAL RULES! No do-overs!!!"
"Geese, relax."
"NO! I'm triple-jumping you anyway! YOU LOSE!!!"

The offer of the Quake 3 match put this issue squarely back where it belonged. An attempt to build a rapport with the other side of the argument and mediate the situation before it got out-of-hand. Like an adult would. Notch already offered to withdraw the trademark application and had no desire to make a legal issue out of it. His other option was to become "professionally offended" and create a massive issue over it by using government funds in a court of law. I think he responded like a rational, intelligent, proactive human being. Oh, but it may "look funny" in public. And as any mature person knows, appearances are everything.

What is more important: constructive thinking or appearance?

Quote from NickoNiklas

I understand how a lot of you here think Zenimax only did this to defend their name, and to prevent future lawsuits from Moajang.
I understand that, and can agree with you on it a bit.

But remember, If Moajang wouldn't try to trademark the game name. Anyone could actually create a similar game, named "Srulls", or "Scrollies" or whatever, sell it on (for example) iTunes or whatever, and get money for it.
And the people purchasing it, would think It's the real Scrolls game from Moajang.
It happened to Minecraft,
and as I remember, that's why Notch trademarked the name Minecraft, and told the ones who sold the similar game under almost the same name that they owned the name minecraft, and asked them to stop selling it under almost the same name.
The could have sued the cr*p out of them, but instead asked them to stop using their name.

So, if Moajang wouldn't trademark their game names,
anyone could make a similar version of their games,
sell it,
and make people think they actually purchased the original game.

So, the conclusion:
Moajang Isn't evil,
Zenimax Isn't evil,
just companies trying to survive in a world,
where a lot of people would try and use their names and brands to earn a cheap buck.

These, I think would be the primary concerns for Mojang, but this is true of a million titles. Look at the 'me-too' titles that have already been released which focus on Minecraft. As directly pertains to the case, I don't think that people are that stupid. And if a consumer is foolish enough to purchase the first thing that "looks" like what they want without even taking the time to ensure the title is spelled the same way, then that's the way it goes.

This case won't stop it, anyway. People will always find a way to try to take advantage of those that are not as smart as they are. Kind of like Bethesda and Zenimax. Where I strongly disagree with them is that the goal should be to solve problems, not beat up on the little guy for making a simple mistake. Won't call them evil, but I'd like to take them by the ear, so to speak.

It's not the name that bethesda was worried about. It was the copyright on the word "Scrolls" in virtually EVERY type of media that was put on the copyright.

With the copyright, Mojang could have delayed Skyrim's release by putting in a lawsuit on Bethesda for using "Scrolls" in one of it's titles. Small companies do this all the time.
Bethesda only has the copyright for "Elder Scrolls" while Mojng was trying to get just "Scrolls". Bethesda didn't know Notch or anyone at Mojang, so they were doing what they had to do from a business perspective.

Maybe what really happened was that Mojang signed something to never try to sue or delay one of Bethesda's games and then they got to keep Scrolls as their title.

Why do people keep mentioning that Bethesda is doing the suing? It's Zenimax, their parent company. You can't exactly judge the whole thing going by the word of Notch anyways. I have no doubt that he'd act goofy for fans to make them think he had solely good intentions. Zenimax is trying to protect a word, like how DC and Marvel have "Superhero" trademarked, that has been a part of one of Bethesda's major game series. Just playing it safe.

I don't think it was ever possible for mojang to trademark scrolls. From what I initially heard, Zenimax sued them because they thought Mojang's game would get people confused with their elder scrolls game. The other side is, NO ONE calls their games elder scrolls. Sure we may use the TES before the roman numeral and then the actual name but everyone calls the games by "dagger fall", "morrowind", "oblivion"...etc.

I could see the other side that they were trying to make sure they didn't trademark that word but I don't think it was possibly anyway. Notch and Mojang just wanted to use the word "scrolls" for their game for the most part. I think it's more of a misinterpretation of the titles and games amongst these developers than what some of you are claiming. I'm not hating on either one: I just think it's ridiculous that Zenimax would think their scrolls game would confuse people with the Elder Scrolls games. Just looking at the trailer is enough for everyone to realize they're 2 entirely different entities.

Once again, Zenimax HAS to fight for its brand, or it could lose it. While I think pushing after Mojang offered to drop all applications is overkill, the laws REQUIRE them to be this vicious and aggressive if they want to keep their trademark.

LOL Did notch really ask them if they wanted to settle it over a game of quake XD

Judge:I find the defendent, Mojang. NOT GUILTY.

Yay. Scrolls, shall stay scrolls.

For the record, here is how I see it:
Mojang: fail for trying
Zenimax/Bethesda: fail reasoning.

Mojang tried to copyright the word "Scrolls" in any form, for TV shows, radio, even other games.

Zenimax/Bethesda's reason for suing Mojang: The customers aren't smart enough to tell the difference between the two games.

Come on, really? I can understand WHY they are suing (even though Mojang was going to drop the application for the word "Scrolls" apparently), but really, if your argument is that we aren't smart enough, maybe Mojang SHOULD have the copyright of the word "Scrolls."

I have read this entire 11 page thread before I posted. Unlike some of you "Herp Mojang won!!111!one! Bethesda suxxxxxx!!%!oneoneelevenone! Derp"

To be honest, I don't care what the new game will be called. I will still play it.

I colored the parts for people who don't like to read, so that instead of having to read this whole thing, they can get the gist of it from above. XD

Quote from barricade179

Judge:I find the defendent, Mojang. NOT GUILTY.

Heh, heh, heh. If only it were that simple. I think the court will need to decide at least 2 things in its verdict:

1.) Did Mojang infringe upon the existing copyright held by Bethesda and Zenimax? (This, I agree, is pretty much open-and-shut as Bethesda does NOT have exclusive right to the non-coined word "Scrolls". And Mojang will easily be able to prove that they did not intend any sort of intentional infringement for the sake of increasing their own profits at Bethesda's expense, as the two titles are aimed at two totally different gameplay markets.)

2.) Can an individual, non-coined word be trademarked and protected by copyright law for use as an official title of a work of media? (Again, I think it's open-and-shut because I believe there is already a lot of precedent for this in the print and film industries.)

Which leads me to believe that the whole problem actually stems from the lawyer who originally handled the trademark application for "Scrolls". I get the feeling that application was initially handled the wrong way or the request was for a level of copyright that would have been denied in any case. The more I think it over, the more I think that Zenimax saw the situation as a hunk of meat just hanging out there in the open and decided to take a bite out of it before Mojang's trademark application could be denied or relegated, which would therefore nullify Zenimax's case. Greed.

haha, pwned