Game News The Banner Saga in hot water over its name

[Whisky]

Tags: Stoic; The Banner Saga

Apparently Stoic is in hot legal water over The Banner Saga. Their crime? Using the word Saga in the title.

King, the developer of Candy Crush Saga, has filed a Notice of Opposition to Stoic over the use of this trademarked named. However, they have also said that they're not going to try and stop Stoic from using the name, they just had to file the injunction against them so that their copywright claim for the word Saga would be stronger against future would-be plagiarists. What?

 

[Severian Silk]

Infinitron was faster. That bastard.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...as-the-words-candy-or-saga-in-its-name.89295/

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

However, they have also said that they're not going to try and stop Stoic from using the name, they just had to file the injunction against them so that their copywright claim for the word Saga would be stronger against future would-be plagiarists.

/10

 

[DragoFireheart]

Please game industry just die already.

 

[Whisky]

Infinitron was faster. That bastard.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...as-the-words-candy-or-saga-in-its-name.89295/

Competing with him is impossible, I'm afraid. Plenty of TC newsposts I've done are things he's tagged me on. Dude's a machine.

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

Does EA own a game that has "Saga" in its title? I'm aching to send their legal department a heads up that King may want to fuck them out of their money in the future.

 

[DraQ]

Let the massive DDoS waves commence.

 

[XenomorphII]

Does EA own a game that has "Saga" in its title? I'm aching to send their legal department a heads up that King may want to fuck them out of their money in the future.

Don't think so. But SquareEnix has the SaGa games.

 

[Whisky]

Does EA own a game that has "Saga" in its title? I'm aching to send their legal department a heads up that King may want to fuck them out of their money in the future.

Don't think so. But SquareEnix has the SaGa games.

Capital G saves the day!

 

[Infinitron]

Does EA own a game that has "Saga" in its title? I'm aching to send their legal department a heads up that King may want to fuck them out of their money in the future.

Well, there's this: http://www.mobygames.com/game/wing-commander-the-kilrathi-saga

 

[FeelTheRads]

Better let KING Art Games know.
I was confused by this company being called King and I think they want to ride on KING Art's success.

 

[evdk]

The could Kickstart a kickass legal team.

 

[Telengard]

Does EA own a game that has "Saga" in its title? I'm aching to send their legal department a heads up that King may want to fuck them out of their money in the future.

If they still hold the rights to Mars Saga.

Plus, in addition to Infinitron's, there's also the Command & Conquer Saga.

 

[tarkin]

You morons obviously don't know anything about copyright laws, the bottom line is if you won't actively defend your rights you can lose them. Nothing to see here.

 

[felipepepe]

My understanding was that one can't trademark a single english word of daily use. Vide Bethesda suing Mojang for the use of "Scrolls" and failing.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

This will get thrown out in Summary Judgment.

 

[Brzęczyszczykiewicz]

However, they have also said that they're not going to try and stop Stoic from using the name, they just had to file the injunction against them so that their copywright claim for the word Saga would be stronger against future would-be plagiarists.

/10

As stupid as this sound this is how american trademark law works.

 

[Morality Games]

My understanding was that one can't trademark a single english word of daily use. Vide Bethesda suing Mojang for the use of "Scrolls" and failing.

No, but titles can be incriminating if the content matches.

That is, someone can make a phone game similar to Candy Saga and also put the word 'Saga' in the name, implying some sort of relationship between the two games for the sake of getting some sales.

Filing this suit establishes a solid legal framework against that happening.

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

However, they have also said that they're not going to try and stop Stoic from using the name, they just had to file the injunction against them so that their copywright claim for the word Saga would be stronger against future would-be plagiarists.

/10

As stupid as this sound this is how american trademark law works.

Somehow that doesn't surprise me at all.

 

[Burning Bridges]

Boycott King.
Boycott Candy Crush Saga.

Send this message to 100 people you know immediately.

 

[Burning Bridges]

Now that the game is released, Stoic can change the name to Bannu Sagu anyway.

 

[DraQ]

However, they have also said that they're not going to try and stop Stoic from using the name, they just had to file the injunction against them so that their copywright claim for the word Saga would be stronger against future would-be plagiarists.

/10

As stupid as this sound this is how american trademark law works.

Somehow that doesn't surprise me at all.

That's what you get for not cleansing rebelling colonies with fire.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Let the massive DDoS waves commence.

How do I perform a DDoS attack?

 

[TedNugent]

Somehow that doesn't surprise me at all.
That's what you get for not cleansing rebelling colonies with fire.

Assuming that UK copyright laws are less restrictive than US copyright laws?

After the revolution, the US was notorious for goading British engineers, of which the US had a shortage, into literally stealing British industrial blueprints in order to support a homegrown engineering base.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-15002318

At the time, the US was the world's biggest exporter of cotton but did not have the technology to process it.

Britain knew this and passed laws in 1774 banning textile workers from travelling to America.

US entrepreneurs were desperate to acquire the machines - in newspapers they offered bribes to English workers for their knowledge.

On top of that, the US-EU trade agreement Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership or TTIP contains an IP chapter, similar to many other so-called "free trade agreements" which in reality are lobbied extensively by the IP industry in addition to every other industry imaginable that wants a slice of the pie. In fact the result may be to create further parity across the Atlantic in terms of copyright enforcement, which in some cases is the explicit directive of the policy's lobbyists.

Except in the case of the TTIP, it may actually be European copyright holders that may benefit at the expense of American consumers.

This study states:
http://infojustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/foreignownrep.pdf

For decades, U.S. domestic and foreign IP policy has been predicated on the assumption that U.S.
firms dominated both domestic and foreign markets for IP products. In an effort to evaluate the standing
of U.S. firms in IP intensive industries, this paper identifies the “nationality” of the leading firms in several
important IP industries. The paper finds that for many industries, this assumption of U.S. dominance is no
longer correct. This suggests that at times, IP policies adopted by Congress and the Executive Branch may
benefit foreign corporations at the expense of U.S. consumers.

According to this joint-statement by the Library Copyright Alliance et al., EU may impress upon the US to curtail first sale and fair use doctrines.

http://www.librarycopyrightalliance.org/bm~doc/lca-ttip-comments-final-10may13.pdf

"Second, we question the appropriateness of attempting to negotiate an intellectual property chapter in TTIP. The European Union generally provides higher levels of protection for copyright and related rights, including features that probably violate the U.S. Constitution."

[...]
Further, the Information Society Directive circumscribes the exceptions member states can adopt, and the laws of numerous EU member states contain features that require payment for activities that are free in the U.S. For instance, many European countries have a public lending right, under which libraries have to pay publishers an annual fee for the right to lend books. By contrast, in the U.S., this activity is permitted under the first sale doctrine. European countries also have a complex system of compulsory licenses and duties, so that consumers in effect must pay to make copies allowed in the U.S. under the fair use doctrine.The EU could very well attempt to use the IP chapter as a means for rolling back exceptions such as fair use in the U.S. and fair dealing in three of its member states: the UK, Ireland, and Cyprus. The diminution of fair dealing could then be
leveraged onto other countries, such as India."

And, Mr. Polski, a free trade agreement just may be coming to a third-world shithole near you:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25032275

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/24/world/europe/ukraine-protests-eu/index.html

The demonstrators say an EU agreement would open borders to trade and set the stage for modernization and inclusion. Ukraine's government says the terms needed to be renegotiated to protect Ukrainians better.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Strategic_Economic_Partnership

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Economic_and_Trade_Agreement

"Funnily enough," Iwiński adds, "especially in Poland, I was many times asked, 'Oh, so you were a pirate - your roots are from the computer games market?' I say, 'Hey, for starters it wasn't illegal and second, look at a lot of the presidents or the founders or the key shareholders of IT companies in Poland now: who are these guys?' These are the guys learning the ropes at the computer markets as well."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-06-seeing-red-the-story-of-cd-projekt

Fortunately the forces of oppression stand staunchly opposed to all faggy EU trade deals, so your local cross-the-border piracy trade may yet be salvaged

 

[panzertoter]