ZeniMax Fires Copyright Warning At Skyrim App

[Andy Chalk]

ZeniMax Fires Copyright Warning At Skyrim App

Skyrim map app Dragon Shout has attracted the wrathful gaze of the ZeniMax legal department.

Dragon Shout, you may Skyrim [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114418-Fan-Developing-Much-Needed-Skyrim-Map-App] a little less of a chore. It allows users to take their maps with them, annotate them and even share those notations with friends through built-in social functionality. And it's free! Alas, it also infringes upon copyrights held by Bethesda Softworks parent ZeniMax, or so the company claims - although rather oddly, it doesn't appear to be working too hard to make the app go away.

The infringement notice, which was actually sent back in late April [https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=366155653421200&id=287404687962964], asked the developer to remove the app voluntarily, but Apple hasn't yet pulled it from the App Store because ZeniMax hasn't yet laid out how exactly it infringes. Furthermore, the developer, "Blalock," said he hasn't received a cease-and-desist letter yet and "several" emails to ZeniMax seeking details have gone ignored.

"I did my best to ensure the app was not violating anything," he told TouchArcade [http://toucharcade.com/2012/05/15/dragon-shout-creator-receives-copyright-infringement-notice/]. "I looked up U.S. trademarks and copyrights for 'Dragon Shout' and at the time there wasn't any. I had the map hand drawn. I intentionally didn't use any graphics or wording that would possibly be owned by Bethesda. So, I'm still not sure what they say the app violates."

Not that I would ever suggest bad behavior on the part of ZeniMax, but the long silence following the initial warning has me wondering if maybe an overzealous lawyer somewhere saw the app and reacted a wee bit too quickly, without first digging to see if there was any basis in the claim. That sort of knee-jerk response could be encouraged by the existence of Bethesda's "official" Skyrim app [http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-official/id498002469?mt=8], which is free for the basic map but offers up to $10 worth of in-app purchases for things like interior maps and various points of interest, but that of course is pure speculation.

Dragon Shout remains on the App Store [http://itunes.apple.com/app/dragon-shout-for-skyrim/id483488468?mt=8] for now but the clock may be ticking, so if you want it, you might want to get a move on.


Permalink

 

[Quiet Stranger]

I really don't care what happens to this app, we Android users are SO left out in these things, shame for the people who DO have the app though

 

[hazabaza1]

Because it's so hard to have another tab with a map on it.

 

[Andronicus]

Hey, he hand-drew that? Not bad, even just for a map.

Not sure about the legalities involves here, but it just sounds like a knee-jerk sort of thing. It might also be something along the lines of what happened with Scrolls, where Bethesda are obliged to claim infringement, no matter how small, to ensure they keep the rights. Just speculation though.

EDIT: Oh, had it hand-drawn. Still, someone had to do it, so good on them.

 

[Kimarous]

"I did my best to ensure the app was not violating anything," he told TouchArcade. "I looked up U.S. trademarks and copyrights for 'Dragon Shout' and at the time there wasn't any. I had the map hand drawn. I intentionally didn't use any graphics or wording that would possibly be owned by Bethesda. So, I'm still not sure what they say the app violates."

I'm no legal expert, but isn't that still plagiarism and/or art forgery? Pretty sure copying someone's art by hand and selling it for your personal profit is illegal to some degree.

 

[Covarr]

Overzealous lawyers at Bethesda? Who'da thunk? After that whole "Scrolls" PR fiasco, you'd think they'd be keeping their lawyers on a very tight leash right now, but apparently not.

P.S. Thanks

 

[getoffmycloud]

"I did my best to ensure the app was not violating anything," he told TouchArcade. "I looked up U.S. trademarks and copyrights for 'Dragon Shout' and at the time there wasn't any. I had the map hand drawn. I intentionally didn't use any graphics or wording that would possibly be owned by Bethesda. So, I'm still not sure what they say the app violates."

I'm no legal expert, but isn't that still plagiarism and/or art forgery? Pretty sure copying someone's art by hand and selling it for your personal profit is illegal to some degree.

But it is a free app so no money is being made

 

[Kimarous]

"I did my best to ensure the app was not violating anything," he told TouchArcade. "I looked up U.S. trademarks and copyrights for 'Dragon Shout' and at the time there wasn't any. I had the map hand drawn. I intentionally didn't use any graphics or wording that would possibly be owned by Bethesda. So, I'm still not sure what they say the app violates."

I'm no legal expert, but isn't that still plagiarism and/or art forgery? Pretty sure copying someone's art by hand and selling it for your personal profit is illegal to some degree.

But it is a free app so no money is being made

Incorrect.

free for the basic map but offers up to $10 worth of in-app purchases for things like interior maps and various points of interest

My point stands.

 

[Gimelbub]

"I did my best to ensure the app was not violating anything," he told TouchArcade. "I looked up U.S. trademarks and copyrights for 'Dragon Shout' and at the time there wasn't any. I had the map hand drawn. I intentionally didn't use any graphics or wording that would possibly be owned by Bethesda. So, I'm still not sure what they say the app violates."

I'm no legal expert, but isn't that still plagiarism and/or art forgery? Pretty sure copying someone's art by hand and selling it for your personal profit is illegal to some degree.

But it is a free app so no money is being made

Incorrect.

free for the basic map but offers up to $10 worth of in-app purchases for things like interior maps and various points of interest

My point stands.

That's for Bethesda's app. Not his.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

"I did my best to ensure the app was not violating anything," he told TouchArcade. "I looked up U.S. trademarks and copyrights for 'Dragon Shout' and at the time there wasn't any. I had the map hand drawn. I intentionally didn't use any graphics or wording that would possibly be owned by Bethesda. So, I'm still not sure what they say the app violates."

I'm no legal expert, but isn't that still plagiarism and/or art forgery? Pretty sure copying someone's art by hand and selling it for your personal profit is illegal to some degree.

But it is a free app so no money is being made

Incorrect.

free for the basic map but offers up to $10 worth of in-app purchases for things like interior maps and various points of interest

My point stands.

That's Bethesdas own app I think you'll find.

Read the piece again and you'll notice Mr. Chalk putting emphasis on the fact that the app is free while Bethesdas costs money.

 

[DeepComet5581]

"I did my best to ensure the app was not violating anything," he told TouchArcade. "I looked up U.S. trademarks and copyrights for 'Dragon Shout' and at the time there wasn't any. I had the map hand drawn. I intentionally didn't use any graphics or wording that would possibly be owned by Bethesda. So, I'm still not sure what they say the app violates."

I'm no legal expert, but isn't that still plagiarism and/or art forgery? Pretty sure copying someone's art by hand and selling it for your personal profit is illegal to some degree.

But it is a free app so no money is being made

Incorrect.

free for the basic map but offers up to $10 worth of in-app purchases for things like interior maps and various points of interest

My point stands.

That's for Bethesda's Official Skyrim Map.

"That sort of knee-jerk response could be encouraged by the existence of Bethesda's "official" Skyrim app, which is free for the basic map but offers up to $10 worth of in-app purchases for things like interior maps and various points of interest, but that of course is pure speculation."

EDIT: HA! 3 in 3 minutes.

 

[Amnestic]

Making annotations to maps? Sounds like something which should've been in the game to begin with. Make notes of any loot you've stored, notes of quest hooks to come back to, make notes of locations of certain mining nodes, areas where you can expect certain monsters, etc.

Frankly I'm more than a little annoyed that functionality is not built into the game to begin with.

 

[Covarr]

Of course, we can argue how stupid someone would have to be to confuse Skyrim with an iPhone app, but the court system is specifically tailored for stupid people.

Not just an iPhone app, but an iPhone app that doesn't have "elder scrolls" or "skyrim" anywhere in the name. I don't think ANYONE is going to get confused. It's a far more likely problem for, say, all those Minecraft strategy guides floating around on the App Store.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Andrew_C]

I'm no legal expert, but isn't that still plagiarism and/or art forgery? Pretty sure copying someone's art by hand and selling it for your personal profit is illegal to some degree.

Well, the app works, assumingly, by reading data out of Skyrim and presenting it in a map.

That's as much plagiarism or copyright infringement as shooting a picture of a car driving in a street is infringing the rights to that design which the car manafacturer holds.

But that's common sense, a word not commonly found in the dictionaries of dumb American lawyers or large companies.

It's still copyright enfringement, unfortunately. Makers of plastic model kits have been successfully sued by Formula 1 teams and aircraft manufacturers for making models of their cars and aircraft without seeking a licence. As have game developers for making unlicensed american football, Formula 1 racing, soccer and golf games.

Insane, I know.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

Overzealous lawyers at Bethesda? Who'da thunk? After that whole "Scrolls" PR fiasco, you'd think they'd be keeping their lawyers on a very tight leash right now, but apparently not.

P.S. Thanks

What fiasco? All I recall is a lot of angry people with no idea what was going on taking sides based on which person (Todd or Notch) they would be most likely to jump into bed with. As far as I remember, nothing bad at all happened because of it, Notch kept the name and Skyrim went on to sell millions. A few lawyers got a bigger pay cheque then normal, but that's about it.

OT: I would say the map, even if it isn't a digital copy, is still a forgery of a trademarked/copyrighted item. Lawyer over react? Maybe. Possible infringements? Possibly. Will the world end? Not because of this at least.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

"I did my best to ensure the app was not violating anything," he told TouchArcade. "I looked up U.S. trademarks and copyrights for 'Dragon Shout' and at the time there wasn't any. I had the map hand drawn. I intentionally didn't use any graphics or wording that would possibly be owned by Bethesda. So, I'm still not sure what they say the app violates."

I'm no legal expert, but isn't that still plagiarism and/or art forgery? Pretty sure copying someone's art by hand and selling it for your personal profit is illegal to some degree.

But it is a free app so no money is being made

Incorrect.

free for the basic map but offers up to $10 worth of in-app purchases for things like interior maps and various points of interest

My point stands.

That's Bethesdas own app I think you'll find.

Read the piece again and you'll notice Mr. Chalk putting emphasis on the fact that the app is free while Bethesdas costs money.

Probably why ZeniMax are trying to do something about this map. They know no one will buy theirs when they can get this one for free.

 

[Covarr]

Overzealous lawyers at Bethesda? Who'da thunk? After that whole "Scrolls" PR fiasco, you'd think they'd be keeping their lawyers on a very tight leash right now, but apparently not.

P.S. Thanks

What fiasco? All I recall is a lot of angry people with no idea what was going on taking sides based on which person (Todd or Notch) they would be most likely to jump into bed with. As far as I remember, nothing bad at all happened because of it, Notch kept the name and Skyrim went on to sell millions. A few lawyers got a bigger pay cheque then normal, but that's about it.

OT: I would say the map, even if it isn't a digital copy, is still a forgery of a trademarked/copyrighted item. Lawyer over react? Maybe. Possible infringements? Possibly. Will the world end? Not because of this at least.

It wasn't a big deal because of the outcome. It was a big deal because it was bad publicity (which is why I called it a PR fiasco. The fact is, both Bethesda AND Mojang lost some fans as a result of it.

P.S. Thanks