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.
Think about it: Let's say there's an old video game you liked with a certain name. Now there's a new game with the same name or with name similarities. It almost overlaps the old game on search engines, especially if that newer game is very good and successful.
Boom! I set off a tiny propulsion bomb for a big sound.
Just sayin...
I sincerely hope that Notch continues with his plans and fights the lawsuit. He certainly has the money to do so.
Seriously, this is completely retarded. You can't claim a word just because you use it, and it's just a development name, for christ's sake! If it was like this, no one was allowed to say their favourite games' names.
Secondly, Bethesda themselves did not initiate this suit. It was the lawyers.
As people have stated, this isn't going to work. It's an odd suit, and I suppose I can understand "concern" for mixing up names (aside from the other four words) but really I would only believe that if The Elder Scrolls was named Scrolls in the first place.
Don't hate on Bethesda, don't hate on Notch, just wait to see where this goes.