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Hey, Bethesda Let’s settle this

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Re: Hey, Bethesda Let’s settle this

#31

Post by tjogin »

LXicon wrote: post #22
tjogin wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. But, Bethesda already have a stellar reputation in the gaming community, their "The Elder Scrolls" series is many many orders of magnitude more well known than Mojang's upcoming game "Scrolls". The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of the most anticipated games this year. Mojang and Notch have far far more to gain from this than Bethesda do.

it goes without saying that a 17 year old series is more well known than a new game. on the other hand, i have never referred to "The Elder Scrolls" as just "Scrolls". i've called it "Morrowind" or "Oblivion" and i'll probably refer to the new game as just "Skyrim". if i saw a game that was just called "Scrolls" i would not confuse it with Bethesda's games.

I'm not saying you would, I'm saying PR wise Mojang and Notch have everything to gain from settling this matter of law in a game of Quake, while Bethesda has very little.

Re: Hey, Bethesda Let’s settle this

#32

Post by NickPollard »

Shenglong wrote: post #26
eggbrain wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember, in Game of Thrones, that Bronn only became Tyrion's champion for the money, not any sense of honor. What if Bethesda finds it easier to hire 3 top Quake 3 players for 1k each to fight Notch and friends? They might find it easier than going through the lawsuit.

What a wonderful precedent. The future of law: gamers

There's a science fiction book in this. Get writing!

Re: Hey, Bethesda Let’s settle this

#33

Post by knowtheory »

eggbrain wrote: post #17
knowtheory wrote: post #2

I love this idea, and in a society that prided itself on honor, Bethesda would take him up on it. Unfortunately the law does not promote honorable behavior.

Remember, in Game of Thrones, that Bronn only became Tyrion's champion for the money, not any sense of honor. What if Bethesda finds it easier to hire 3 top Quake 3 players for 1k each to fight Notch and friends? They might find it easier than going through the lawsuit.

Well, okay, that's true (but not my primary point, since i've not read/seen Game of Thrones).

My point was that Bethesda is under no obligation to do this, and it's not clear to me that this would have legal binding. So in that sense they'd be accepting based on Notch's intentions (honorable or not), and I presume that Mojang would only agree based on their honorable intentions.

There are of course many ways to weasel out of straightforward agreements. That's why presidential debates are always so terrible.

Re: Hey, Bethesda Let’s settle this

#34

Post by corin_ »

A-K wrote: post #25
dgritsko wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except it's highly doubtful Valve would've sent the C & D in the first place.

Considering that they're the guys making "Dota 2", I'm inclined to agree.

Well they did hire the creator of Dota to work on it for them, not like they've stolen the name from him..

Re: Hey, Bethesda Let’s settle this

#35

Post by atomicdog »

eggbrain wrote: post #17
knowtheory wrote: post #2

I love this idea, and in a society that prided itself on honor, Bethesda would take him up on it. Unfortunately the law does not promote honorable behavior.

Remember, in Game of Thrones, that Bronn only became Tyrion's champion for the money, not any sense of honor. What if Bethesda finds it easier to hire 3 top Quake 3 players for 1k each to fight Notch and friends? They might find it easier than going through the lawsuit.

Seein as Bronn won the duel dishonourably by running away until the opponent was tired, does this mean Bethesda will win the match by camping?

Re: Hey, Bethesda Let’s settle this

#36

Post by patio11 »

There were a few precedents from the 1980s and 1990s where Japanese firms in a few industries settled commercial disputes in the $ZOMG region via rock-paper-scissors. This nearly caused an aneurysm or three in my Japanese economy class, but the prof explained "It's fair, cheap compared to litigation, and even if you lose your CEO is not going to want to stab an icepick into the eye of someone who he is almost certainly going to have to do business again with."

I'm mostly telling this for the "funny anecdote" angle, since without a social connection (either direct person-to-person or inferred by being a member of the same fraternity of elite megacorps), the likelihood of a Japanese firm agreeing to this method of dispute resolution with a firm of Notchs' size is zero.

Re: Hey, Bethesda Let’s settle this

#37

Post by jeremyarussell »

lmkg wrote: post #28

This is not without precedent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_airlines#.22Just_Plan... Southwest Airlines was sued by Stevens Aviation over their use of the phrase "Just Plane Smart" in their advertisements. Herb Kelleher, CEO of Southwest, offered to settle the dispute by arm-wrestling the CEO of Stevens. He lost the match, but got rights to the phrase anyways, and both companies got a lot of good publicity…

You get a plus for that one. I always like when people provide evidence to back stuff up.

To me though, how can someone trademark or copyright a single established word in any language, it just seems ridiculous really.

PS: I hope Bethesda takes him up on the offer.

Re: Hey, Bethesda Let’s settle this

#38

Post by orillian »

saddino wrote: post #9

The fact that Bethesda has engaged counsel means they've already invested in defending their trademark rights. Agreeing to any "contest" in which they'd abandon their mark would serve as record (to other competitors) that their mark is diluted. No chance of that happening. Unfortunately this is a legal issue now, not a game.

There is no abandoning or diluting going on. The trademark is still intact, and they take the word "Scrolls" off the table as an issue.

Now if you decided to create a game called "The Younger Scrolls" they could still go after you! The fact that "Scrolls" as a singular word is no longer contestable would hold no baring on the legal action taken against you.

O.

Re: Hey, Bethesda Let’s settle this

#39

Post by sbarre »

atomicdog wrote: post #35
eggbrain wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember, in Game of Thrones, that Bronn only became Tyrion's champion for the money, not any sense of honor. What if Bethesda finds it easier to hire 3 top Quake 3 players for 1k each to fight Notch and friends? They might find it easier than going through the lawsuit.

Seein as Bronn won the duel dishonourably by running away until the opponent was tired, does this mean Bethesda will win the match by camping?

How is fighting intelligently "dishonourable"? If you can't beat someone at their own game, force them to play your game.

Re: Hey, Bethesda Let’s settle this

#40

Post by mccutchen »

jeremyarussell wrote: post #37
lmkg wrote: post #28

This is not without precedent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_airlines#.22Just_Plan... Southwest Airlines was sued by Stevens Aviation over their use of the phrase "Just Plane Smart" in their advertisements. Herb Kelleher, CEO of Southwest, offered to settle the dispute by arm-wrestling the CEO of Stevens. He lost the match, but got rights to the phrase anyways, and both companies got a lot of good publicity…

You get a plus for that one. I always like when people provide evidence to back stuff up. To me though, how can someone trademark or copyright a single established word in any language, it just seems ridiculous really. PS: I hope Bethesda takes him up on the offer.

I think Microsoft owns the trademark for the word "Windows".

http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/en/us/IntellectualPrope...

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