EA, Zynga Settle The Ville Case Out of Court

Timothy Chang

painkillers and whiskey
Jun 5, 2012
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EA, Zynga Settle The Ville Case Out of Court



Barbed words and heated accusations are quietly dismissed by both parties for an undisclosed sum.

Remember EA and Zynga's dispute over The Ville? EA filed copyright violation claims over The Ville's close resemblance to EA's The Sims Social, and Zynga snapped back with a counter-claim, accusing EA of conducting anti-competitive practices and restraining its own employees from leaving the company, which included several executives. It appears that all the drama has come to a head with a bit of a whimper: both claims have since been dismissed.

Official court documents state that both parties were ready to dismiss all claims and counterclaims "with prejudice", and that both parties will bear their own costs over the course of legal proceedings.

EA's lawsuit stemmed from accusations [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118884-EA-Sues-Zynga-for-Copying-The-Sims-Social] that Zynga's The Ville had "design choices, animations, visual arrangements and character motions and actions" that were lifted directly from The Sims Social so as to be "largely indistinguishable". Maxis General Manager Lucy Bradshaw previously called it a "case of principle", and hoped that the case would prevent similar cases of creative infringement.

In response, Zynga filed a counter-suit [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119614-Zynga-Bites-Back-Against-EA-Lawsuit-Files-Counterclaim], claiming that EA's complaint was "an unrestrained ramble of immaterial, inflammatory, and prejudicial allegations". The company also alleged that EA attempted to slow Zynga's hiring process and force it to spend more money in litigation.

An official Zynga statement received by Gamasutra plainly states that "EA and Zynga have resolved their respective claims and have reached a settlement of their litigation in the Northern District of California." Presumably there was an out-of-court settlement involved, but the amount was not disclosed to the public.


Sources: All Things D [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/186789/EA_and_Zynga_settle_The_Ville_copycat_case_out_of_court.php?#.USH5ZqVmh8E]

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sagitel

New member
Feb 25, 2012
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well the game obviously looks like sims so i can see what ea means from this but zynga is also correct (which is not important because its zynga) anyway i wanted this to take longer so we could have a bit of more laugh.
 

VanQ

Casual Plebeian
Oct 23, 2009
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All I could gather from that article is that EA and Zynga got into a scuffle and rather than fists lying wildly they just stood face to face with their arms crossed yelling the biggest, most confusing words at each other until they both got tongue tied.

They probably then proceeded to act out a scene similar to this.

 

Dirty Apple

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Apr 24, 2008
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There are very few developers that fill me with more loathing than Zynga. Thay are a leach growing fat off the creative works of others. The sooner they give their last gasp the better.
 

Remus

Reprogrammed Spambot
Nov 24, 2012
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They're both conceited. Oh wait...
Now we get to watch this play out again as Zynga copies another property and gets sued, again. All it'll take is time. Old habits that go unpunished are the hardest to break.
 

rayen020

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May 20, 2009
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awww.. i wanted to see two heavyweights duke it out. oh well.

And in the greater game community not a single fuck was given.