Bethesda, Mojang & 'Scrolls'

Bethesda, Mojang & "Scrolls"

By Sacheverell Aug 5, 2011
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It would appear that Bethesda - developer of numerous popular titles, including the "Elder Scrolls" series of games - is suing Mojang for use of the word "Scrolls" in one of their upcoming projects.

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.

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Tycholarfero
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#100 Tycholarfero

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
It isn't Bethesda. Its their LAWYERS, that's what the problem is. The LAWYERS problem. Not Bethesda. Also, read Notch's god damn twitter.

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RooSalad
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#103 RooSalad

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
OH NO!
I hope all goes well for Notch, and the rest of the Mojang team!

Don't let us, or yourself down Notch! Make the right decisions!

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Thorian
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#104 Thorian

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
Wow, Really, Bethesda? I mean, come on, you're just being retarded now. I love your games, but now i'm not so sure if I like the company at all. It's a god damn WORD.

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MCFUser79067
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#105 MCFUser79067

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
Haha how stupid can this get.

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Bedrockpuncher
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#107 Bedrockpuncher

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
NO!

wow... i go for minecraft even know elder scrolls is epik but MINECRAFT MUST PWN ALL!

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Tgdrake10
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#108 Tgdrake10

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
I never liked them

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daniloelnino
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#110 daniloelnino

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
Let's not jump to conclusions. Bethesda is NOT suing Mojang. Zenimax, the company that owns Bethesda, is suing Mojang. It's possible that Bethesda itself does not agree with this, but you can't argue with the boss. It's like, Viacom suing someone for using the word Pimp in the show. MTV would have no say in that. Stop saying, screw Bethesda, its not them.

Second, despite the beliefs of most on this thread, you can, in legal terms own a word. That's what trademarking is for, and often the suing party does win a case like this. If they can convince the court that this can confuse people in the market, and lead to lost profits, they have a chance of winning. However, It's probably as Notch said, "Lawyers being lawyers".

In a free market however, you do have the right to boycott their games, and this is where indie companies have the edge. With the closely knit community, you can organise something like this. I'm sure our friends over at unnamed sites could help, those that play MC, or spreading the word not to buy Skyrim until they withdraw their lawsuit. Things like this help, not "screw Bethesda i hate them loloololol"

Just my 2 cents.

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Justin8
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#111 Justin8

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
Bethesda isn't suing mojang, guys, they just sent a cease-and-desist, meaning they want them to change the name, or come up with an agreement. now if mojang were to stick to their guns and keep the name and not come up with an agreement, bethesda would most likely sue them. But I think notch is smarter than that, so I think the worst thing that could happen is scrolls gets a new name.

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jan48
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#112 jan48

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
then tell the lawyers they can go to hell or ill stick my foot in their asses

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gotan333
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#113 gotan333

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
lol

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Tycholarfero
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#114 Tycholarfero

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS LAWYERS

I don't really need to spam this, do I? READ THE WORDS. It is the lawyers, not the Company.

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jonah876
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#115 jonah876

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
lol there going all edge games like REALLY!!! If i made a cooking game called super- would nintendo sue me because there is the word super in super mario bros? I Mean Really!!! Will Minecraft get sued because of the "sky" dimension having 1 word similar with skyrim!?!?!?! REALLY STOP EDGE GAMING NOTCH!!!

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iRemedy
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#119 iRemedy

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
always makes me laugh when i see big companies being childish.

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BlockArranger
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#122 BlockArranger

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
Pretty stupid, but I think Mojang should change the title since "Scrolls" is too generic for a trademark (same issue Magic: The Gathering had at one point)

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KamiKazeKenji
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#123 KamiKazeKenji

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
Ok, this is absolutely ridiculous is so many ways! "Scrolls" is a generic word. It's not like Mojang is using the word, "Morrowind". Since when does Bethesda own the word? I'd bet my entire stack of diamonds that Bethesda is simply jealous of Minecraft's huge success. On the other hand when you think about it, Mojang is releasing Minecraft the same day as Bethesda's release date of Skyrim. And I can see similarities between the two games, they're both sandbox-oriented. That still does not give them an excuse for this ridiculous lawsuit though. Another thing, Scrolls is still in development. It doesn't have an official name yet, why is Bethesda getting their scrolls in a bunch over a code name?

-1 for Bethesda. I totally love the Elder Scrolls series, as Morrowind was my first PC game love. Now that they're waging war on my new favorite PC game, my view of Bethesda has changed. Shame on you, Bethesda.

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sarus92
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#124 sarus92

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
Actually you could sue Bethesda because you think Todd Howard is ugly....

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guygombaa
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#125 guygombaa

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
Oh no, were going to have to ban the other 50 or so games that have the word scrolls in the title to!

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Tycholarfero
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#126 Tycholarfero

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
And nobody is listening. Stop being Notch's personal defense force, and get your head out of your ass. It is not Bethesda, it is there ****ing LAWYERS.

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Imdogtc
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#127 Imdogtc

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
Well, suing someone for that stupid of a reason means that they are a derp.

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Bedrockpuncher
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#129 Bedrockpuncher

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Posted Aug 5, 2011
you cant ****ing own a word dumbasses

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Bethesda, Mojang & "Scrolls"

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