Company News Bethesda vs Interplay in the court of William M Nickerson

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: Bethesda Softworks

Bethesda are taking Interplay to court over, of all things, Interplay selling the original Fallout's on Good Old Games. <a href="http://kotaku.com/5357724/bethesda-sues-interplay-over-fallout-trademark-infringement">Courtesy of Kotaku</a>:
<br>
<blockquote>That complaint alleges that Interplay did not seek approval for the sale of the Fallout Trilogy bundle, which features the original Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics. Bethesda claims that the title Fallout Trilogy is "confusingly similar" to that of Fallout 3 and takes issue with Interplay's marketing, sale and distribution of other Fallout packages named Fallout Collection and Saga Fallout.
<br>
<br>
Bethesda also takes issue with Interplay's licensing of Fallout games to digital distribution services <a href="pp/cb4e5208b4cd87268b208e49452ed6e89a68e0b8">Good Old Games (GOG)</a>, GameTap and Steam, which Interplay was said never to have sought approval or permission for. Basically, Bethesda takes issue with pretty much everything Interplay seems to be doing with the pre-Fallout 3 releases, believing they cannibalize sales of Fallout 3.</blockquote>
<br>
<a href="http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-mddce/case_no-1:2009cv02357/case_id-171540/">Legal eagles can read the details here</a> (though you need a login to access the good bits apparently):
<br>
<blockquote>Plaintiff: Bethesda Softworks LLC
<br>
Defendant: Interplay Entertainment Corporation
<br>

<br>
Case Number: 1:2009cv02357
<br>
Filed: September 8, 2009
<br>

<br>
Court: Maryland District Court
<br>
Office: Baltimore Office [ Court Info ]
<br>
County: Montgomery
<br>
Presiding Judge: Judge William M Nickerson
<br>

<br>
Nature of Suit: Intellectual Property - Trademark
<br>
Cause: 15:1114 Trademark Infringement
<br>
Jurisdiction: Federal Question
<br>
Jury Demanded By: None</blockquote>
<br>
Somebody obviously made too much money out of Fallout 3 and duhhh I so confused over Fallout Trilogy vs Fallout 3 derpderpderp. Bethesda save us! Now it's up to Nickerson to decide.
<br>
<br>
Thanks <b>LarpingDudeWhateverNumberYou'reUpToNow</b>!

 

[Darth Roxor]

original Fallout's

But anyway

Bethesda takes issue with pretty much everything Interplay seems to be doing with the pre-Fallout 3 releases, believing they cannibalize sales of Fallout 3.

Well, who would have thought about that?!

 

[Emotional Vampire]

Bethesda claims that the title Fallout Trilogy is "confusingly similar" to that of Fallout 3

f

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Re: Bethesda vs Interplay in the court of William M Nickerso

Here's our top story for today: stupid fucking idiots.

Here's Tom with the weather.

 

[Ausir]

GOG should do a promo on the Fallouts while they still can.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

What the hell is wrong with Nazimax and Bethsduh? For fucks sake...

 

[MetalCraze]

Huh? I actually think they are doing a good thing for once. It's also pretty ironic that it is Bethesduh which shits all over Herve for selling a Fallout license to retards.

 

[Ausir]

Unlikethe FOOL one, the FO1/2/T one will get them bad publicity. On Polish sites, pretty much all comments are now against Bethesda. To an outsider, it looks simply like Bethesda is trying to take away the original games from their makers.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

Huh? I actually think they are doing a good thing for once. It's also pretty ironic that it is Bethesduh which shits all over Herve for selling a Fallout license to retards.

There are a couple of next gen kiddies who thought the original fallout was a superior product when compared to the new one, and that is quite rare given the amount of retardation present in the gaming market now a days. If Interplay loses the right to sell the old games then the next gen kiddies will be doomed to play their "new shit" forever.

 

[MetalCraze]

Unlikethe FOOL one, the FO1/2/T one will get them bad publicity. On Polish sites, pretty much all comments are now against Bethesda. To an outsider, it looks simply like Bethesda is trying to take away the original games from their makers.

Which is the second good thing about this.

If Interplay loses the right to sell the old games then the next gen kiddies will be doomed to play their "new shit" forever.

If Interplay will lose the right to sell and Fallouts were selling good enough - Bethesda will sell them through GOG. They couldn't care less about which product is superior - they care only about the money. Or at least nobody killed torrents yet.
Still I'm pretty glad they fuck up Herve.

 

[Ausir]

The bad thing is that the original Fallouts won't be legally available for purchase now, though.

 

[MetalCraze]

There is always ebay and amazon if you want boxed copies and it's legal (and quite enough of those are in pretty good condition even after so many years). Good games should be sold in hard copies only.

 

[Ausir]

Of course, but they won't reach as big of an audience as with new retail releases, GOG and Steam.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

If Interplay will lose the right to sell and Fallouts were selling good enough - Bethesda will sell them through GOG. They couldn't care less about which product is superior - they care only about the money. Or at least nobody killed torrents yet.
Still I'm pretty glad they fuck up Herve.

Beth won't sell them because it undercuts their profits. (IE: Fallout 3 is more expensive to buy, but shittier while Fallout 1 and 2 are good and cheap.)

Of course, but they won't reach as big of an audience as with new retail releases, GOG and Steam.

Bingo.

 

[Lemunde]

There is always ebay and amazon if you want boxed copies and it's legal (and quite enough of those are in pretty good condition even after so many years). Good games should be sold in hard copies only.

Indeed. You should buy this, like right now!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... RKESE:IT

beforeigankthepriceuptotakeadvantageofthesituation...

 

[MetalCraze]

Beth won't sell them because it undercuts their profits. (IE: Fallout 3 is more expensive to buy, but shittier while Fallout 1 and 2 are good and cheap.)

How exactly will it undercut their profits? Are you really naive enough to believe that because original FOs are superior retards will stop buying FO3 and it will be even slightly noticeable? Pffft.

Of course, but they won't reach as big of an audience as with new retail releases, GOG and Steam.

They won't reach more than they already did. The only ones who buy through GOG and Steam are pitiful old gamers who just need to have a "legal" version that is absolutely identical, bit to bit, to the "illegal" version. Again what will stop Beth from releasing retail versions instead of Interplay if it brings good money?

 

[Forest Dweller]

If Interplay will lose the right to sell and Fallouts were selling good enough - Bethesda will sell them through GOG. They couldn't care less about which product is superior - they care only about the money. Or at least nobody killed torrents yet.
Still I'm pretty glad they fuck up Herve.

Beth won't sell them because it undercuts their profits. (IE: Fallout 3 is more expensive to buy, but shittier while Fallout 1 and 2 are good and cheap.)

Most of the new kids won't believe that though and will think that Fallout 3 is superior.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

There are some who've had a change of heart after playing through the originals.

How exactly will it undercut their profits? Are you really naive enough to believe that because original FOs are superior retards will stop buying FO3 and it will be even slightly noticeable? Pffft.

You said that you wouldn't mind it if Bethsda sold the originals, i am simply saying that they won't.

As for me being naive... Well, then you havn't been paying attention for very long, have you?

 

[Luzur]

If Interplay will lose the right to sell and Fallouts were selling good enough - Bethesda will sell them through GOG. They couldn't care less about which product is superior - they care only about the money. Or at least nobody killed torrents yet.
Still I'm pretty glad they fuck up Herve.

Beth won't sell them because it undercuts their profits. (IE: Fallout 3 is more expensive to buy, but shittier while Fallout 1 and 2 are good and cheap.)

Most of the new kids won't believe that though and will think that Fallout 3 is superior.

well, its all they know. they never experienced the good old days.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Well, I certainly wouldn't like to see the old games re-released by Bethesda. Don't want to see their name glued on those too.
And it will only lead to more and more people believing Bethesda actually created Fallout. Hell, there are plenty of morons who think Torment and the Icewind Dales are Bioware's creations.

 

[RaXz]

But they still can, but most of them stay away from it because the graphics, turnbased and the isometric viewpoint, it ruins the immersion of being in the world. And ofcourse, there are no hidef boobs.

Hell, there are plenty of morons who think Torment and the Icewind Dale's are Bioware's creations.

You're kidding....right?

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

No, he is not.

 

[Ausir]

They won't reach more than they already did. The only ones who buy through GOG and Steam are pitiful old gamers who just need to have a "legal" version that is absolutely identical, bit to bit, to the "illegal" version. Again what will stop Beth from releasing retail versions instead of Interplay if it brings good money?

Not really. I know of quite a few people who bought them after only playing Fallout 3 and loved them. Some even started hating FO3 after that.

As for what's stopping Beth, it's very much possible that Bethesda might not be able to release them either even if they win the lawsuit, because the rights might end up in a limbo, with e.g. Beth owning the content, but IPLY owning the code, and Beth being able to re-release the games only if they remake them from grounds up code-wise.

 

[Silellak]

Re: Bethesda vs Interplay in the court of William M Nickerso

Here's our top story for today: stupid fucking idiots.

Here's Tom with the weather.

It's raining fags, Andy. It's raining fags. Back to you.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go ahead and re-download the Fallout games from GOG to make sure I have copies of the executables just in case they go away for good.

 

[Ausir]

Wonder if the Steam copies will stop working after Bethesda wins.