Electronic Arts v. Zynga: Is it a clone?
Video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA) has challenged video game creator Zynga in California Federal Court. It appears that Electronic Arts suspects Zynga has been borrowing a few too many elements from its game, The Sims Social, and incorporated those elements into the Zynga game, The Ville. From EA’s complaint it appears that various design elements of The Sims Social were copied directly into the Zynga game. A few months ago it would have seemed that EA had an uphill battle...
Read MoreGoogle Seeks Dismissal of Google Books Lawsuit
On July 27, Google Inc. asked U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin to dismiss a lawsuit from the Authors Guild over the company’s plan to digitize books and provide excerpts through their search engine service. Google filed a motion seeking dismissal and arguing their actions fall under fair use and also provide a benefit to the public and the authors themselves. The Authors Guild also filed for summary judgment. Both parties’ motions are set for oral argument on Oct. 9. The case has been ongoing...
Read MoreCloning Video Games is Copyright Infringement: You Can’t Just Copy Tetris
On May 30, 2012, a Federal District Court in New Jersey granted summary judgment to Tetris in an infringement case against Xio Interactive, Inc. for their iPhone game “Mino.” In Tetris Holding, LLC v. Xio Interactive, Inc., the judge ruled that Xio infringed upon Tetris’ copyright and trade dress. The decision is an important gain for game developers, who are often offered little protection against infringement by game studios who produce clones of popular games for profit. Many game...
Read MoreTacit Consent to E-mail Snooping
Thanks to a New Jersey court ruling, if you’re one of the many people who check their personal email at work, you might be concerned. Forgetting to log off a public computer could be even more stressful after a jury found that failing to log off constituted tacit authorization to snoop around. The case, Marcus v. Rogers, included excerpts from the emails in question. On June 28, a New Jersey Appellate Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling in a digital snooping case in an unpublished...
Read MoreDMCA – Digital Millennium Copyright Act
In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which includes a variety of provisions to address intellectual property concerns including things like digital material and the Internet. In addition, the DMCA updated U.S. law to implement two World Intellectual Property Organization treaties from 1996. The DMCA strengthens penalties for digital piracy, including criminal penalties for tampering with anti-piracy measures in software. The manufacture of software or devices to...
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