Following a recent cease and desist letter from the Zenimax lawyers -- Claiming that the
recently announced "Scrolls" game infringed on Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls trademark -- Minecraft creator and Mojang Specifications studio founder Marcus "Notch" Persson has called for a
friendlier settlement:
Remember that scene in Game of Thrones where Tyrion chose a trial by battle in the Eyrie? Well, let’s do that instead!
I challenge Bethesda to a game of Quake 3. Three of our best warriors against three of your best warriors. We select one level, you select the other, we randomize the order. 20 minute matches, highest total frag count per team across both levels wins.
The world would surely be a much better place if more disagreements were solved in this manner. Israel and Palestine on Q3tourney4?
Posted 01:16pm 18/8/11
Posted 01:55pm 18/8/11
Gotta agree with Door on the ego statement, especially after his baseless attack of Euclidion, it might be just me but i don't see what this guy has done that is amazing or interesting...
Posted 02:01pm 18/8/11
Posted 02:03pm 18/8/11
Posted 02:11pm 18/8/11
Legally binding outcome? Check
Gamers generally happier to see something other than a lawsuit? Check
So long as Bethesda take him up on it, both garner good will. If not, just makes Bethesda look both scared and silly. I mean, they look silly enough already. I mean, scrolls? Really? trademark/copyright or whatever?
Posted 02:16pm 18/8/11
Just like in game of thrones where tyrion had nothing to lose because he was f***ed if it was a proper trial, notch has nothing to lose and bethesda has nothing to gain in this situation. Imagine their next investors meeting "we lost the rights to the elder scrolls name because some guy with a small amount of internet fame master baited us into a quake 3 duel"
Posted 02:21pm 18/8/11
Compare that to how Epic presented UnrealEngine3:
Posted 03:02pm 18/8/11
Posted 03:08pm 18/8/11
h.p.lovecraft's estate should sue chaosium who should then sue gary gygax who should then sue bethesda for the use of both eldar & scroll ;p
Posted 03:43pm 18/8/11
Posted 03:54pm 18/8/11
And your dead example, well i was kind of on the fence as to whether it would be worth suing people over, but it shows perfectly what bethesda would want to stop by defending their trademark. (not speaking to the legitimacy of it, but now i can't really fault bethesda for trying)
Posted 04:01pm 18/8/11
Posted 04:02pm 18/8/11
They do? I've only ever seen it referred to as "TES" or by the individual game names (Oblivion, Morrowind etc).
Posted 04:07pm 18/8/11
Posted 04:11pm 18/8/11
Posted 04:12pm 18/8/11
Posted 04:15pm 18/8/11
Posted 04:29pm 18/8/11
Posted 04:39pm 18/8/11
Posted 04:44pm 18/8/11
Also, slapping a word in front of someone else's trademark isn't the same as using a word that's part of a trademarked phrase. A better example would be if someone released a game called "Portal Into Another World" before Valve released Portal, should they be able to take legal action against Valve over their use of the word Portal?
No, it's like Coca-Cola trying to stop any other company from calling their product X cola. Except we have Jolt Cola and Coca-Cola, and people can tell them apart!
Posted 04:51pm 18/8/11
Here's what an actual lawyer said about it: I'm not saying what you're saying is not fact, just that it doesn't matter if it is fact, it still doesn't mean both sides can make a case for what they believe. Personally when I hear the word "scrolls" I don't think at all of "The Elder Scrolls" series of games, which to me says that Notch would have a case. It's not like f*****g Mario or something.
Posted 05:03pm 18/8/11
Well he claimed that Dell was a fraud after money and using old tech that has been around for ages, without him having hands on time with it. I would have thought he would have the intelligence to keep his opinions to himself given his position. He basically went for the throat with no leg to stand on. And in my opinion Dell ripped him apart.
Posted 05:06pm 18/8/11
I think it really is that BS, reminds me of when Cadbury tried to claim the color purple.
Posted 05:06pm 18/8/11
Posted 05:16pm 18/8/11
No offence but this is everyday problem. If you see the exact same shade of red and yellow in an arch and square you'd think it's a mc'donnalds.
They were suing because darrel lea were using the same packaging as the cadbury, which does in fact dilute the well known brand name.
Cadbury would have a claim for a defence.
It's not like cadbury owns every purple, mind you. They were trying to stop someone from producing a bar of chocolate to look the same as theirs.
They lost.
Posted 05:55pm 18/8/11
Posted 06:13pm 18/8/11
All in all, I'd wager that not a single person in the world thinks of Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim from the word Scrolls. Everybody calls it TES or the iteration title.
Posted 06:57pm 18/8/11
Hire them? Bethesda Softworks/Zenimax own id software, so it's possible that they're already on staff!
Posted 07:12pm 18/8/11
Nope! but they do have some guys who play it still! (Quake Live)
Posted 07:27pm 18/8/11
not just frivolous cases like copyright infringement
Posted 10:30pm 18/8/11
Posted 11:54pm 18/8/11
how is him challangeing betheseda to a quake match over a name immature? u are not intelligent enuf to see what is going on here.
betheseda cant coppywright a word, but they can bully him with fees and red tape. notch is simply makeing light of that and throwing it in there face.
the real school girl antics here are form bethesda who use there lawyers and monney to bully ppl into changeing a "name" because it shares 1 word with there franchise. plz go peddle ur hate elsewhere
Posted 04:03am 19/8/11