Copyright
Case Update: Allison v. Crave Online Media
A case with an interesting copyright twist has settled, thus scuttling our chance to see how a court would rule regarding copyright in cheat codes. In Allison v. Crave Online Media, David…
News: Banner & Witcoff Prevails in Video Game Copyright Case
B&W Wins Summary Judgment of No Copyright Infringement September 29, 2005 Banner & Witcoff is pleased to announce that a legal team representing prominent video-game manufacturers and developers–Team Play, Inc., P&P Marketing,…
Case: Roginsky v. Time Warner (M.D. Penn. 1997) [C]
Roginski v. Time Warner Interactive, Inc. 967 F.Supp. 821 (M.D. Penn. 1997) Plaintiff Paul A. Roginski (Roginski) filed a copyright infringement action against defendants Time Warner Interactive, Inc., Atari Games Corp. and…
Case: Nintendo v. Brown (9th Cir. 1996) [C,TM]
Nintendo of America, Inc. v. Brown 94 F.3d 652 (9th Cir. 1996) This was largely an open and shut case, which only lasted as long as it did due to the…
Case: Interactive v. NTN (N.D. Cal. 1995) [C,TD]
Interactive Network, Inc. v. NTN Communications, Inc. 875 F.Supp. 1398 (N.D. Cal. 1995) NTN, the Defendant and Counterclaimant, is popularly known as the creator of “QB1,” an interactive game played in conjunction…
Case: Capcom v. Data East (N.D. Cal. 1994) [C]
Capcom U.S.A. Inc. v. Data East Corp. 1994 WL 1751482 (N.D. Cal. 1994) Capcom filed a motion for preliminary injunction to enjoin Data East from distributing the video game “Fighter’s History,” which…
Case: Midway v. Publ’s Int’l (N.D.Ill 1994) [C,TM]
Midway Manufacturing Co. v. Publications Int’l, Ltd. 1994 WL 188531 (N.D. Ill 1994) Thinking of writing a tell-all book of strategies for your favorite video game? You may want to think…
Case: Atari v. Nintendo (N.D. Cal. 1993) [C,P]
Atari Games Corp. v. Nintendo of America, Inc. 30 U.S.P.Q.2d 1401 (N.D. Cal. 1993) (Atari II) Following a 1992 Federal Circuit ruling upholding a preliminary injunction in favor of Nintendo (see…
Case: Lewis Galoob v. Nintendo (9th Cir. 1992) [C]
Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc. 964 F.2d 965 (9th Cir. 1992). I. Background Lewis Galoob Toys developed a device called the Game Genie, which allowed the player of…
Case: Data East v. Epyx (9th Cir. 1988) [C]
Data East USA, Inc. v. Epyx, Inc. 862 F.2d 204 (9th Cir. 1988). In July 1984, Data East USA, Inc. began distributing in Japan a video game titled “Karate Champ,” and…
Case: Stern Elec. v. Kaufman (2nd Cir. 1982) [C,TM]
Stern Electronics, Inc. v. Kaufman 669 F.2d 852 (2nd Cir. 1982). I. Background In late 1980, Konami Industry Co., Ltd. developed a video game titled “Scramble,” to which, in early 1981, Stern…
Case: Midway v. Omni (1st Cir. 1981) [C]
Midway Manufacturing Co. v. Omni Video Games, Inc. 668 F.2d 70 (1st Cir. 1981) Midway, the creator of the games Pac-Man, Rally-X, and Galaxian, sued Omni for copyright infringement of these games.…
Update: Davidson & Associates v. Internet Gateway
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis will hear arguments at 9 a.m. today in this case that may decide how the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, applies to…
Case: Ahn v. Midway (N.D. Ill 1997) [C]
Ahn et al. v. Midway Mfg Co. et al. 965 F.Supp 1134 (N.D. Ill 1997) (Order on Motion for Summary Judgment) I always look forward to reading a video game case that…
Case: Accolade v. Distinctive (N.D.Cal. 1990) [C]
Accolade, Inc. v. Distinctive Software, Inc. 1990 WL 180239 (N.D.Cal. 1990) Accolade was seeking a preliminary injunction again Distinctive Software, which makes this case intriguing because Distinctive is a developer for whom…
Case: Midway v. Dirkschneider (D.Neb. 1981) [C] – Dirkschneider I
Midway Mfg. Co., v. Dirkschneider et al. 543 F. Supp 466 (D. Neb. 1981) In one of the earliest decisions in a video game infringement case, the court issues a preliminary injunction…
Case: Midway v. Artic Int’l (C) [7th Cir.] 1983
Midway Mfg. Co. v. Artic. Int’l, Inc., 704 F.2d 1009 (7th Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 823 (1983). Galaxian is a video that is something of a cross between Space Invaders…
Case: Williams Elec. v. Artic Int’l (C) [ 3rd. Cir] 1982
Williams Electronics, Inc. v. Artic International, Inc., 685 F.2d 870, 215 USPQ 405 (3rd Cir. 1982) The game is Williams’ arcade game Defender, which many of us remember with fondness: Artic sold…
Update: Marvel v. NCSoft (C) (TM) [C.D. Cal.] 2005
MARVEL ENTERPRISES, INC., et al. v. NCSOFT CORPORATION, et al. No. CV 04-9253RGKPLAX. C.D. Cal. March 9, 2005. The case is in the early stages, and the present ruling is on a…
Case: Atari v. North American Phillips Consumer Electronics (C) [7th Cir.] 1982
Atari, Inc. v. North American Philips Consumer Electronics Corp., 672 F.2d 607 (7th Cir. 1982) In this early case regarding copyright protection of video games, the court addresses the issue of determining…