God of War Copyright Infringement Case Dismissed

March 12, 2010

David Jaffe can breathe a little easier today. According to the embattled developer, Bissoon Dath v. SCEA and David Jaffe, a copyright infringement lawsuit over various themes in the God of War series, was dismissed by a federal court judge last week.

Some sites are mistakenly reporting that the case was settled; however the judge's order clearly indicates that the dismissal is the result of a successful motion by SCEA and Jaffe for summary judgment, and therefore a victory for Jaffe.

It remains to be seen whether there will be a subsequent battle for attorney’s fees and costs, which presumably have racked up over the year and a half long litigation. Other than publishing the judge's order, Jaffe's only statement on his blog was "...".

The full judgment can be viewed here (PDF), via The Hollywood Reporter.

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Comments

Re: God of War Copyright Infringement Case Dismissed

Submitted by Neeneko on Fri, 03/12/2010 - 13:24.

Carefull about oversimplifying cases like this, these are NOT easy to sort through.

No, they could not copyright 'greek mythology', but things get sticky when you pitch an idea to a company as an independent and then discover one of their internal/existing developers puts out content that looks like it was inspired by what you created.

This is, unfortunately, a long standing problem in the movie industry that screws over independent writers rather often. Execs (sometimes unintentionally) transfer plot elements to 'buddies' already in the company and the original author never gets credit.

Looking at their specific claims, I generally thought they had at least a 'should be put in the credits' type case. But going up against expensive lawyer to prove a case like this is hell for small authors so I doubted they would get anything. They never do.

Re: God of War Copyright Infringement Case Dismissed

Submitted by jedidethfreak on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 00:26.

The problem authors face is that there is no original thinking in storytelling anymore. There hasn't been for centuries. Every story that can be written fits into four basic story arcs (romance, tragedy, satire and comedy), and then within six to eight different subsets within those arcs. All any writer has is details.

IMO, it can be very easy to argue that someone didn't steal something in a general sense, since it's all stolen from Shakespeare, whom stole it from ancient literature, all the way back to the birth of civilization.

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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.

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Re: God of War Copyright Infringement Case Dismissed

Submitted by DarkSaber on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 15:54.

Very well chuckles, pop quiz time: The movie "The Rock" belongs in the category

A) Romance

B) Tragedy

C) Satire

D) Comedy

E) You're talking a load of shit as usual.

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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.

-------------------------------------------------- I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.

Re: God of War Copyright Infringement Case Dismissed

Submitted by Liz Surette on Fri, 03/12/2010 - 12:45.

Spoiler alert

www.gameslaw.net

Re: God of War Copyright Infringement Case Dismissed

Submitted by DarkSaber on Fri, 03/12/2010 - 12:46.

Care to elaborate?

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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.

-------------------------------------------------- I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.

Re: God of War Copyright Infringement Case Dismissed

Submitted by DarkSaber on Fri, 03/12/2010 - 12:37.

So there was no base to the case that Bissoon owned the copyright to Greek mythology. Funny that.

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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.

-------------------------------------------------- I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.

Re: God of War Copyright Infringement Case Dismissed

Submitted by Rodrigo Ybáñez ... on Fri, 03/12/2010 - 12:49.

He is not amused...

Is almost the same thing they tryed to claim with League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie years ago (that movie sucked ass, anyways).

------------------------------------------------------------ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com

Re: God of War Copyright Infringement Case Dismissed

Submitted by ZippyDSMlee on Sat, 03/13/2010 - 15:57.

I liked the movie and Hellsing but loath Xmen/transformers/ghostrider 0-o

Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy! CP/IP laws should not effect the daily life of common people! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/

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Shout box

Andrew Eisen: Okay, fixed. For really reals this time!06/19/2013 - 12:42am

Sleaker: @AE The actual link to the pay what you want is www.indiegamestand.com not desura. You seem to infer where it's at but never posted a link.06/19/2013 - 12:01am

Andrew Eisen: LEGO: The Movie! www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPnY2NjSjrg06/18/2013 - 9:39pm

Zen: http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20130614/OFFDUTY02/306140030/New-Xbox-sin-against-all-service-members-06/18/2013 - 7:33pm

Zen: Been out for a few days, but has anyone brought up the possible ban on Xbox One on military bases because of security concerns that it could be a listening device by Commanders?06/18/2013 - 7:33pm

Andrew Eisen: Sleaker - Fixed.06/18/2013 - 6:34pm

MechaTama31: CMiner: Another issue is that every camera/webcam combination is going to be pretty different, in terms of the software/hardware exploits available. A homogenous hardware/software combo like a console, in millions of homes, will be a much juicier target.06/18/2013 - 6:31pm

Sleaker: Vox pay what you want link is busted.06/18/2013 - 6:27pm

ZippyDSMlee: Mics have to breath put tape over it.06/18/2013 - 6:25pm

NyuRena: You nailed it James! Yikes..06/18/2013 - 1:56pm

james_fudge: With MS willing to share with the government, an always listening device should give everyone pause.06/18/2013 - 1:37pm

james_fudge: you can't turn off the Microphone on the Kinect and it has to be plugged in. It's not rocket science.06/18/2013 - 1:35pm

E. Zachary Knight: The Humble Bundle Guys just don't like me having money in my pocket do they? https://www.humblebundle.com/06/18/2013 - 1:12pm

E. Zachary Knight: CMiner, I know that my Android camera is off unless I am using an application that turns it on. Same with the microphone.06/18/2013 - 12:38pm

CMiner: Can you turn off the camera on an iPhone? Like, -really- turn it off, not just change a setting that -tells- you the camera is off?06/18/2013 - 12:13pm

james_fudge: when they make it a requirement, yes they are06/18/2013 - 12:10pm

CMiner: I just don't think Microsoft bears any more (or less) responsibility for privacy with its Kinect camera than do the makers of laptops or smartphones with integrated cameras.06/18/2013 - 12:00pm

Imautobot: The ability to operate the console without the camera is key. It's a peripheral, not directly integrated into the console, and yet it behaves as if it is. Thankfully I don't have kids, and won't have an Xbone either.06/18/2013 - 11:49am

CMiner: Oh, I agree that the decision to make the kinect mandatory/always listening is terrible.06/18/2013 - 11:48am

E. Zachary Knight: CMiner, and the easier the provider makes to do such things, the better. The fact that the XBone will not even funtion without it plugged in and turned on in some fashion makes a world of difference from a PC Webcam.06/18/2013 - 11:38am

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