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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random_letters
- Stone Miner
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#2026 random_letters

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
@Taking_Sunday So even though bethesda made an amazing game, you still hate bethesda because its PARENT COMPANY ZENIMAX sued?

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viciousvinny
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#2027 viciousvinny

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
*Rolls some paper on 2 sticks* yaa i made a scroll! Oh no i'm gonna get sued nao...

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crashride100
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#2028 crashride100

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
bethesda's just angry that they can't make a game like minecraft

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- Stone Miner
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#2029 random_letters

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
Bethesda always gets blamed for things it never did

ex.

1. Fallout: New vegas. Obsidian made it! Bethesda published.

2. This. Zenimax (bethesda's parent company) is suing! Not bethesda!

ps.Don't be a ***** and boycott bethesda, they have no control over this.

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Smuck
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#2030 Smuck

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
Wouldn't be surprised if bethesda's house gets a flint and steel.

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azzanine
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#2031 azzanine

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
To the people trying to remind everyone that is it Beth's lawyers and not them who are creating a lawsuit. Are forgetting that Betheseda could just simply put the lawyers back in to their lawyer gimp cage.
That and unless something's changed lawyers normally consult 1st before potentially doing something that could damage their rep.
I'm now waiting for some obscure oldschool Amiga game dev to sue Beth for the use of the name elder.

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CanOfJello
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#2032 CanOfJello

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
I just uploaded a torrent to the Fallout:NV files on YouTube with a crack from some other guy.

I also threw away my copy of FNV.

Hello Bethdes-whatever, screw you.

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OMGSOBERIRISHMAN
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#2035 OMGSOBERIRISHMAN

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
Why can't these whiners realize that u cant own a word i mean relly it is pathetic

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Kinetics92
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#2036 Kinetics92

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
Counter-sue for the problems that they're causing. Take it to court, and you'll win the case for sure, mainly because they're suing over the word "Scrolls".

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X4nd3ri4n101
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#2037 X4nd3ri4n101

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
and to believe i actually likedd them...

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dillpickles
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#2038 dillpickles

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
You're pulling my leg here right? Just is just some uber late Aprils Fools joke?
No... you're sure?
Well then... teh ****?

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alxe567
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#2039 alxe567

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
i would like to go to the ceo of Bethesda and kick his balls that will be my birthday present notch approves

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ckin224
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#2040 ckin224

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
Bethesda Softworks, better known as BS.

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random_letters
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#2042 random_letters

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
You people are acting very immature. So Mojang is being sued, DEAL WITH IT!

Also Mojang hasn't even been sued yet anyway. Zenimax just want's them to change the name.

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rogueginger
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#2043 rogueginger

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
is it legal to make a facebook page so you can have screenshots of your server?

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rogueginger
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#2044 rogueginger

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
wow, bethesda's a little grumpy...

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Kaega
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#2045 Kaega

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
I hope Bethesda (the developers) is paying attention to the rift this has caused. Whether it was a different department or whatever, the company as a whole should pay attention to practices that affect their reputation as a whole.

Suing over one word similar in two game titles is petty, and of the thinking of the type of close minded people who I don't want to buy games from. The same kind of people who think it's better to lock up all their content to keep it "safe".

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Bobithan
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#2046 Bobithan

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
Seriously? You can't sue another company for using dictionary words. "Scrolls" is an actual word. I don't see any way this actually makes sense...

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NexusPrime
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#2047 NexusPrime

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
what's funny is that notch loves bethesda and todd and markus are friends (in a way)

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jeffreym23
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#2048 jeffreym23

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Posted Aug 7, 2011
Bethesda ought to learn a lesson from Apple here: the word "scrolls" is generic enough that the lawsuit against Mojang would likely be thrown out of court were it to get that far. Apple lost a similar such trademark suit against Amazon.com when they tried to trademark the phrase "app store".

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Bethesda, Mojang & "Scrolls"

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