Online creators hit with IP and copyright lawsuits
Over the past few weeks, a series of high profile lawsuits have hit two of the most prolific and popular creators in the online entertainment sphere: game studios Rare and Frontier Developments. The pair have been accused of copyright infringement by a number of games producers, as well as from numerous websites and companies, including Steam, Origin and the original Xbox, among others. Both the original Xbox and the Steam community have been targeted in the lawsuits, but for different reasons: the first accused the developers of copyright infringement for the use of copyrighted music in the game, and the second filed a complaint regarding the use of the word “Rare” in the title of the game when in fact it was a trademark used by Frontier Developments.
The dispute started when the game producer who chose to sue the pair began receiving negative feedback on his website, while a third party game developer began investigating the developers over the use of their trademark in the name of his game. These two companies have since launched a number of lawsuits aimed at halting the launch of both games, and at pushing back the release date for both.
Both Rare and Frontier Developments have been accused of copyright infringement by several game developers. The studio behind the upcoming The Walking Dead: The Album has already filed a lawsuit against Rare, the team behind the game has claimed that the studio copied the music, art and story of the game in its “The Walking Dead: The Album”, released in May 2012.
Rare have responded to the complaint with a statement that accuses the development team behind the game of “unjustified” and “unethical” behaviour, specifically pointing the accusations towards the team that originally designed the game. “The team that created The Walking Dead: The Album was responsible for its creation and are not named in this lawsuit,” said a spokesperson. “These companies are not aware of the lawsuit and to prevent any further damage, they have all but stopped publishing information regarding the lawsuit. We have been able to confirm to our lawyers that their complaint is baseless and not backed by any evidence.”
Frontier Developments has responded to