Another good reason why Bethesda doesn't have any right to the word Scrolls

[BloatedGuppy]

I love this "it's the lawyers!"-crap.

Yeah, it's just them and totally not those soulless, talentless cunts over at Bethesda, sueing over a perfectly common word. Poor Bethesda, desperately trying to stop this madness, like a little innocent kitten trying to stop a landslide.

I dislike lawyers as much as the next sane man, but for god's sake you goddamn fanboys, it's Bethesda sueing over the word "scrolls".

You know, kinda like how guns don't kill people, but people do?

BOOGA BOOGA! CUNTS! FANBOYS! LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF COPYRIGHT LAW! CLICHES! RANDOM ANGER!



Am I doing this right?

 

[Maeta]

From here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113450-Mojang-Offered-Up-Scrolls-Trademark-Bethsoft-Said-No] I'm now not sure why Bethy is still suing. They haven't trademarked Scrolls, and Notch won't, and the brand confusion thing seems stupid, so I am now confused.

But if someone else came along and wanted to do the same thing? If someone made a game maybe called The Elder Postcards or something, but then if Bethesda hadn't followed through with this, it would set a precedent. That, and copyright law kinda backs them up, as far as I understand, as Daystar Clarion has patiently been pointin out, yet still being ignored, apparently

 

[Skoldpadda]

U.S. copyright laws. Look them up before you start claiming Bethesda are in the wrong.

That's lawyer talk. And I don't give a crap about U.S. copyright laws. Sane people know this shit's insane.

 

[Wintermoot]

because Apple threw a shit fit over the word "app"

 

[Daystar Clarion]

U.S. copyright laws. Look them up before you start claiming Bethesda are in the wrong.

That's lawyer talk. And I don't give a crap about U.S. copyright laws. Sane people know this shit's insane.

You don't think Bethesda knows that?

They have to protect their copyright or they lose it.

What's so difficult to understand? You can spout nonsense about 'oh well sane people know this is insane', but it's the fucking law, if Bethesda don't go to court, then it sets a precedent, which means anybody will be able to call their game something very similiar to The Elder Scrolls.

 

[veloper]

Gears of War
God of War
Dawn of War

all happened and nobody sued anyone.

Activision didn't even sue Mojang over the -craft suffix and that's a better case than fighting over "Scrolls".

 

[Uber Evil]

From here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113450-Mojang-Offered-Up-Scrolls-Trademark-Bethsoft-Said-No] I'm now not sure why Bethy is still suing. They haven't trademarked Scrolls, and Notch won't, and the brand confusion thing seems stupid, so I am now confused.

But if someone else came along and wanted to do the same thing? If someone made a game maybe called The Elder Postcards or something, but then if Bethesda hadn't followed through with this, it would set a precedent. That, and copyright law kinda backs them up, as far as I understand, as Daystar Clarion has patiently been pointin out, yet still being ignored, apparently

So they are basically just trying to show that you aren't supposed to use Scrolls, since that's their thing? I'm sorry if I'm coming off as stupid, I'm just confused. I can see why Bethesda might have originally gotten angered, what with Notch being very broad in his copyright application, but I'm not entirely sure why they would continue to pursue this if he offered to let them own "Scrolls" and try and distinguish it more from The Elder Scrolls, which doesn't make sense adding a subtitle, as "Scrolls" alone makes it more distinct from "The Elder Scrolls #: subtitle".

U.S. copyright laws. Look them up before you start claiming Bethesda are in the wrong.

That's lawyer talk. And I don't give a crap about U.S. copyright laws. Sane people know this shit's insane.

You don't think Bethesda knows that?

They have to protect their copyright or they lose it.

What's so difficult to understand? You can spout nonsense about 'oh well sane people know this is insane', but it's the fucking law, if Bethesda don't go to court, then it sets a precedent, which mean anybody will be able to call their game something very similiar to The Elder Scrolls.

Ok, so if Notch wins, then it is more likely that people will start trying to mooch off the TES namesake, if I am understanding you correctly. Ok, so would Notch changing the name to say, Deeds (or something else), then would the issue be more easily resolved? At this point both sides look a bit stupid, since I don't exactly think suing Notch for X amount of dollars is the right way to go. They could file for an injunction, or even just send Notch a letter or something. Notch isn't too great either with his broad copyright application. I want this to come to an amicable end for both.

 

[hermes]

I love how a lot of people think Bethesda are sueing Mojang for no other reason than greed.

If you saw what Notch wanted to cover with his copyright of 'Scrolls', then people would probably think differently.

Actually, the copyright from Notch was for "Scrolls" used in the context of (or in relation to) the game, which is kind of understandable considering the amount of unlicensed merchandise there is from Minecraft on the Internet. It doesn't cover the use of the word in combination with other words.

That is the part that is more shady about Bethesda's claim: Not only they want to sue Notch over a word that is not even the main focus of their marketing campaign, they want to sue him for ONE word on their title. Its like Activision suing others over the use of "Warfare", or Lucas suing over the use of "Star" (which, by the way, neither of them does; despite flagrant examples).

 

[generalvash]

PS. Before Oblivion, Morrowind was referred to as Elder Scrolls, because it was the only one at the time. Just as "A New Hope" was simply called Star Wars before Empire.

What the hell are you talking about? Morrowind was the THIRD game in the series, not including off-shots mind you.

 

[Bluntman1138]

[
What the hell are you talking about? Morrowind was the THIRD game in the series, not including off-shots mind you.

Looks like someone didnt read enough posts. Perhaps reading the whole thread before commenting will save you time in the future.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

That is the part that is more shady about Bethesda's claim: Not only they want to sue Notch over a word that is not even the main focus of their marketing campaign, they want to sue him for ONE word on their title. Its like Activision suing others over the use of "Warfare", or Lucas suing over the use of "Star" (which, by the way, neither of them does; despite flagrant examples).

How many space opera film series have the name "Space Wars", or "Star Battles". There's a reason for that. You think it's silly to sue over Scrolls. I think it's silly to sue over Scrolls. Even the fucking lawyers may think it's silly to sue over Scrolls. But that's what the law requires them to do to protect their trademark.

 

[MADrevilution]

I love how a lot of people think Bethesda are sueing Mojang for no other reason than greed.

If you saw what Notch wanted to cover with his copyright of 'Scrolls', then people would probably think differently.

Mojang acctualy offered to stop using the name Scrolls or something along those lines...Bethesda declined and are still sueing..

 

[funguy2121]

And no, I refuse to use the Pink Floyd song because a) I don't especially like Pink Floyd, and 2) I LOVE me some funk!

Funkadelic and Kool and the Gang (pre-disco conversion) and Parliament Funkadelic can all funk circles around the O'Jays.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

From here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113450-Mojang-Offered-Up-Scrolls-Trademark-Bethsoft-Said-No] I'm now not sure why Bethy is still suing. They haven't trademarked Scrolls, and Notch won't, and the brand confusion thing seems stupid, so I am now confused.

But if someone else came along and wanted to do the same thing? If someone made a game maybe called The Elder Postcards or something, but then if Bethesda hadn't followed through with this, it would set a precedent. That, and copyright law kinda backs them up, as far as I understand, as Daystar Clarion has patiently been pointin out, yet still being ignored, apparently

So they are basically just trying to show that you aren't supposed to use Scrolls, since that's their thing? I'm sorry if I'm coming off as stupid, I'm just confused. I can see why Bethesda might have originally gotten angered, what with Notch being very broad in his copyright application, but I'm not entirely sure why they would continue to pursue this if he offered to let them own "Scrolls" and try and distinguish it more from The Elder Scrolls, which doesn't make sense adding a subtitle, as "Scrolls" alone makes it more distinct from "The Elder Scrolls #: subtitle".

U.S. copyright laws. Look them up before you start claiming Bethesda are in the wrong.

That's lawyer talk. And I don't give a crap about U.S. copyright laws. Sane people know this shit's insane.

You don't think Bethesda knows that?

They have to protect their copyright or they lose it.

What's so difficult to understand? You can spout nonsense about 'oh well sane people know this is insane', but it's the fucking law, if Bethesda don't go to court, then it sets a precedent, which mean anybody will be able to call their game something very similiar to The Elder Scrolls.

Ok, so if Notch wins, then it is more likely that people will start trying to mooch off the TES namesake, if I am understanding you correctly. Ok, so would Notch changing the name to say, Deeds, then would it be more easily solved?

Notch won't win, he has no chance of winning.

Why? Because Bethesda have not yet set a precedent of not trying to protect their copyright, that's why.

 

[Staskala]

I love this "it's the lawyers!"-crap.

Yeah, it's just them and totally not those soulless, talentless cunts over at Bethesda, sueing over a perfectly common word. Poor Bethesda, desperately trying to stop this madness, like a little innocent kitten trying to stop a landslide.

I dislike lawyers as much as the next sane man, but for god's sake you goddamn fanboys, it's Bethesda sueing over the word "scrolls".

You know, kinda like how guns don't kill people, but people do?

BOOGA BOOGA! CUNTS! FANBOYS! LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF COPYRIGHT LAW! CLICHES! RANDOM ANGER!



Am I doing this right?

While he drops the ball one sentence in, he has a point about that "it's just lawyers being lawyers" thing that gets thrown around so often.
I'll never understand why some people honestly believe that any company would let its first party lawyers act completely independent to the point where they can file law-suits without any sort of authorization. It's completely ridiculous, especially in this industry where reputation is so important.

 

[GonzoGamer]

And I would say that Bethesda should give up on the word scrolls because it isn't catching on.
However, there is a difference between a product called Scrolls and a product called The Elder Scrolls, so there's no legal threat of Moj preventing Bethesda from using their title... especially since it's a pre-existing series.
If that's the excuse they've been using, Bethesda's lawyers must be even more retarded than their testers.

Considering this is going to be the fifth game in the main series, I think it's caught on pretty well.

Also, pre-existing does not mean a thing. In this day and age, retroactive copyright claim is probably one of the less outrageous things you might hear happening.

The game has caught on, the word Scrolls hasn't. There are plenty of gamers who know what Oblivion is but don't know what Elder Scrolls is.
I'm not a lawyer so I can't state any specific precedents, but having a pre-existing IP stands for quite a bit. Nobody would sue them over that unless they were willing to waste a lot of money.

 

[Uber Evil]

Notch won't win, he has no chance of winning.

Why? Because Bethesda have not yet set a precedent of not trying to protect their copyright, that's why.

Ok, so it's just good business on Bethy's part, then? I add more thoughts to my old post that flesh out my views on this whole issue, but in a nutshell I don't like people being sued for oodles and oodles of greenbacks, no matter who it is, unless they've done something stupid and objectively really wrong. Is Bethesda just trying to get Notch to change the name, or are they trying to get money out of the settlement?

 

[Jack Skelhon]

I hate these threads.

It's about the confusion of the games' titles, not the word.

 

[Bluntman1138]

Gears of War
God of War
Dawn of War

all happened and nobody sued anyone.

Activision didn't even sue Mojang over the -craft suffix and that's a better case than fighting over "Scrolls".

Gears of War: A Sci-fi based on a single planet and a single overall conflict. (with 2 races)
God of War: Based off of Earth Greek Mythology
Dawn of War: Sci-Fi , based on MANY conflicts over MANY worlds. (With Multiple races and factions)

None of these games have very little in common. So your analogy fails, as there is nothing infringing on any of the IP's trademarks or copyrights.

Elder Scrolls: Fantasy, based many races, many conflicts
Scrolls: Fantasy, based on no one really knows

This is the oversimplification of it all, but still valid. THERE IS MORE TO THIS LAWSUIT THAN THE USE OF A SINGLE WORD!