Darkening Demise Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=bethesda+fortress+fallout&tbm=nws So Bethesda shows its greed once more by attacking indie devs once more. Apparently Fortress Fallout is not OK with them so they sent a letter ordering the developer Xreal to cease and desist. This is just one of the many times Bethesda shows it's a shitty company. Before there was 'Scrolls' word use by Mojang and there was also the Oculus Rift incident too.
windpl Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Surprised? They slaughtered fallout online, that was actually made by original fallout creators. Bethesda IP buyout of bankrupted interplay was worst thing ever that happened to that series.
Chaos63 Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 I'd rename it to Fortress Outfall, just to fuck them off. Self-important douchebags.
TheOzoneHole Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Just remember that the legal team and the game dev team work for totally different sections of the company. Not trying to excuse it, just saying.
Car Fax Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 In other news, Bethesda is showing up at E3 this year (In June). They're also doing their own showcase a week before (like how there's Nintendo Direct). Hopefully, they'll talk about Fallout 4, 'cuz I don't give a damn 'bout nothin' else they have to say.
AlphaSquadron Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Just remember that the legal team and the game dev team work for totally different sections of the company. Not trying to excuse it, just saying. That's why I feel sorry for any of my peers that end up working for game companies. But regarding the dude in the video, I can't find a reason feel sorry for him. He seems very arrogant and naive about how copyright and trademark laws work and I'm surprised he decided to not fight over it if he believed that it really the names had nothing to do with the Fallout series. Honestly I have no idea why the game he made is called Fortress Fallout in the first place.
crudo Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Zenimax has the right to it's intellectual property. I googled his game, Fortress Fallout, and I wouldn't confuse it with the Bethesda game. If I were to just go by the name of his game I would confuse the two brands. Having said that, Zenimax has spent a lot of money in aquiring the rights to "Fallout" and further developing and publishing games under that title. I think his lawyers are pretty crappy that it wasn't flagged before it got this far if they indeed had a conversation. Fallout isn't an obscure title and for the lawyers to comment that Zenimax is very litigious after the fact doesn't make them seem too bright.
windpl Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Zenimax claim rights to things that he don't have right to. When Interplay was selling fallout they included disclaimer that it exclude rights to fallout online. And now Zenimax is cock blocking this project(FO) by endless law suits (and for now they lost all of them). So don't tell me that they are so saint
AlphaSquadron Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Bethesda isn't anywhere near saintly status, but this scenario could've been easily avoided or fought over.
Duoleb The Chosen Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 and romero predicted before that zenimax was the devil everyone ignored and then saw what they did to Id
afa Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 I thought Zenimax is well known to be a hard negotiator, to say the least, within the industry.
BruceWayne Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Fallout is a protected trademark. If you don't defend your trademark, you'll lose it. There is nothing even remotely shady about this. The Scrolls case a few years back was a lot more ambiguous and scummy in this regard. What were they expecting is going to happen, if Zenimax is already throwing a hissy-fit over the common word "Scrolls" for a video game title? The indie devs probably gambled on it anyway, because they were banking on the recognition, marketing and search engine value a title with Fallout in the name would have brought. Which is coincidentally what they need the most if they want to successfully compete on the extremely overcrowded mobile games market.
windpl Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 I'm quiet sure that Zenimax would lose in court, or at least it would end with arbitration.
jap2015 Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 Don't blame Bethesda one bit on this one, I mean "Fallout"...really?
TheDude2014 Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 Seriously you guys just figuring out that companys want money . I'm sorry but a company would sell its grandma for a snickers, if it felt it gained enough profit. It's called capitalism and its what makes the world turn around and bethesda is just wanting its cut of money, I can understand that, fuck guys if the fuckn red cross can poket 95% of the donatiions they recieve to line there pockets. Why cant bethesda beat the shit outta little guy, cause they didnt get theyre cut. Atleast bethesda is saying hey im a company that creates games to line my pockets, instead of red cross saying "hey guys look we help out the needy but pocket 95% of donations, cause god forbid i dont have a ferrari outside of my miami flat". BTW if every word in a copyrighted material was considered infringement if used as a title, well fuck i think people are gonna have to make up some new words cause theyre all pretty much taken, so im just guessing this indie devs got a homeless bum on the side of road to represent them, cause i dont got a clue how the hell a court room would ever let this fly as infringement. Next thing you know the Nestle company is gonna sue Kit harington (actor from game of thrones) for having Kit in his name thus stealing theyre Kit Kat chocolate candy name, I'm sure that'll hold up in court nice too, right after the judge gets through with Ernie Chambers, who is suing god for allowing heinous crimes to take place in are world (rolls eyes)!
Cynical Misanthrope Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 Fuck, I don't wanna live in this world anymore. I will never support Bethesda ever again. When your company gets so god damn corrupted and greedy, and start suing people for just words, there is no excuse. All these copyright laws has gone way to far. I bet in a few years, you wont even be able to speak or write down certain words anymore, without getting sued. No wait, we are already there. Today, you can get a copyright strike against you, if you record yourself, standing in front of a mirror, doing some air-boxing, and use the words "Fight Club" in your tags.
Koko.Hekmatyar Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 It's funny people ways say that "I wont support so and so" generally Ubisoft or EA and the next thing you know they go out and buy the Newest EA or Ubisoft game. Fallout is a copyrighted title and they own the rights to it so I don't really see an issue here. If you want to bitch about something why don't you bitch about the ahole that decided he wanted to TM the freaking Happy birthday song so you have to pay royalties if you want to sing it on TV, radio, or at a restaurant.
prideslayer Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 I don't think anything so far seen compares to Apple v. Samsung in the tablet wars. A billion dollars awarded to Apple and a nationwide injunction on sales against Samsung because Samsungs phones and tablets were... rectangles with round corners. At least most of that got tossed on appeal. Zenimax protecting their trademarks is nothing to write home about, as Bruce said, you vigorously protect them from anyone -- or your case against someone actually infringing in a material way is tossed out because you have a history of not protecting the mark.
prideslayer Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 It's funny people ways say that "I wont support so and so" generally Ubisoft or EA and the next thing you know they go out and buy the Newest EA or Ubisoft game. Fallout is a copyrighted title and they own the rights to it so I don't really see an issue here. If you want to bitch about something why don't you bitch about the ahole that decided he wanted to TM the freaking Happy birthday song so you have to pay royalties if you want to sing it on TV, radio, or at a restaurant. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Buffer#Trademark Read it and weep.
Koko.Hekmatyar Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 Yeah they copyright and Tm so much stupid shit all for the sake of money. Taylor Swift did the same thing recently.
Vacaliga Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 Something i always find kinda funny is when people talk about big companies being greedy, it is often forgot how much money AAA games cost to make vs an indie game and what the unit price is in compare. Let's say an indie game get put on steam for 10$ not uncommon at all, total cost to make the game, hell let's say 200.000$ just to be generous. Now a AAA title go on steam for 60$ again very common. now total cost of making it, let's set it low 15mill (Tomb Raider 2013 original budget from what i understand) but let's go even lower than that. 10mill the cost of Left 4 Dead. So who is being greedy again? Of cause there are other factors to consider like the AAA title having a big marketing budget or maybe a loyal fanbase to boost their sales. However those things don't just come out of thin air, and Minecraft pretty much ends the debate on whether or not a indie game can make it big as far as i'm concerned. Now i can only speak for myself but if i had 300mill+ invested into a IP i would not hesitate to fight a little dirty to protect that IP. That is not to say that big companies are saints all the time, and yes they should get hammered when they do dick-move things, but so should any other company big or small, it is often just easier to bark at the big dogs and play the victim game.
legendarytoyou Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 Okay this is beyond stupid. Come on the name Fallout is a free use title. More than likely though this might cause some blow-back because of the outcry. I love Bethesda games just sometimes not the people in charge of its corporate problems.
AlphaSquadron Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 BTW if every word in a copyrighted material was considered infringement if used as a title, well fuck i think people are gonna have to make up some new words cause theyre all pretty much taken, so im just guessing this indie devs got a homeless bum on the side of road to represent them, cause i dont got a clue how the hell a court room would ever let this fly as infringement. Next thing you know the Nestle company is gonna sue Kit harington (actor from game of thrones) for having Kit in his name thus stealing theyre Kit Kat chocolate candy name, I'm sure that'll hold up in court nice too, right after the judge gets through with Ernie Chambers, who is suing god for allowing heinous crimes to take place in are world (rolls eyes)! Nestle would lose the case because I'm sure you need the whole term Kit-kat and not just kit or kat. It's not like indie devs are struggling to create names for their games. I'm pretty sure indie games are easily recognized because their names are much more creative. The creator is just being sour for his poor choice in title words and is playing the victim card for it.
windpl Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 Something i always find kinda funny is when people talk about big companies being greedy, it is often forgot how much money AAA games cost to make vs an indie game and what the unit price is in compare. Let's say an indie game get put on steam for 10$ not uncommon at all, total cost to make the game, hell let's say 200.000$ just to be generous. Now a AAA title go on steam for 60$ again very common. now total cost of making it, let's set it low 15mill (Tomb Raider 2013 original budget from what i understand) but let's go even lower than that. 10mill the cost of Left 4 Dead. So who is being greedy again? Of cause there are other factors to consider like the AAA title having a big marketing budget or maybe a loyal fanbase to boost their sales. However those things don't just come out of thin air, and Minecraft pretty much ends the debate on whether or not a indie game can make it big as far as i'm concerned. Now i can only speak for myself but if i had 300mill+ invested into a IP i would not hesitate to fight a little dirty to protect that IP. That is not to say that big companies are saints all the time, and yes they should get hammered when they do dick-move things, but so should any other company big or small, it is often just easier to bark at the big dogs and play the victim game. Making AAA game cost around 4 millions $. Publisher is spending like 50$ millions on advertising. No feelings that is something wrong here?
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