The lights are on
John Beiswenger, author of "Link," has taken Ubisoft to court over claims the publisher lifted story ideas from his novel to create the Assassin's Creed universe.
The complaint, which was filed earlier this week in a Pennsylvania court, outlines many of the similarities between the book and the game. In "Link," the plot introduces the conception and creation "of a device and process whereby ancestral memories can be accessed, recalled, relived, and re-experienced by the user."
Both also include spiritual and religious tones, assassinations, and characters experiencing historical events through their ancestors’ memories. "Ubisoft have directly copied, and directly and contributorily infringed on the whole of Plaintiff’s copyrighted work," the lawsuit claims. "Link" was first published in 2003.
Beiswenger is seeking 1.05 million in damages and up to $5.25 million if the judge rules Ubisoft knowingly infringed on the copyright, in addition to halting the release of Assassin's Creed III and related products.
Ubisoft said it does not comment on ongoing litigation.
The complaint in PDF form can be read here.
[via Patent Arcade]
oops. oh well, Assassin's creed had a good run. just kidding. it'd be sad to see AC go by the wayside if he wins his case. I may not be a fan of the series, but i think it's got some good ideas. And from the looks of it... perhaps ubisoft was... 'inspired' by link?
It took him this long to do it? Assassins creed series has been going on for what 5 or 6 years, this guy must be a little slow or something.
wtf? This *** just comes along and tries to ruin the lives of young people who play video games because he's a selfish old man who thinks today's youths are useless. So I read a fictional book about vietnam that reminds me of COD BO (which is an ok game) Does the writer of that book get to *** the series over? Maybe if he played the game he'd get over it.
This is B.S. A massive portion of stories have already been done. This guy is probably after money. I agree with previous statements of him asking that the game be delayed is a "Dick move". There are already games out so adding one more isn't doing any harm since his perceived harm has already been done. What a jerk.
I'm really stoked about AC III but after reading the man's complaint in its entirety, it's not beyond a logical, unbiased judge or jury to grant his wishes. The stuff from the game is uncannily similar to direct quotes from his book. Before anybody writes this guy off as a crackhead writer just looking for cash, read the complaint. My hope at the moment is that Ubisoft just pays him off but I suppose we'll see what happens.
He is a Templar! Assassins attack!
A couple of things stand out to me. The first is that there are 11 counts of copyright infringement listed in the 42 page document. This probably helps to explain the reasoning behind the full complaint. There could be additional evidence submitted later indicating that Ubisoft had been contacted by the author before now, but did not stop the production at the author's request. There is also a chance that the author is not a gamer himself, and was therefore not aware that the game actually existed until much later on.
The second part that stood out to me was the inclusion of Gametrailers Corp along with Ubisoft as a defendant. It appears that only counts 10 and 11 apply to Gametrailers, and not the others. Since Gametrailers is a part of the MTV Networks Entertainment Group, there are multiple parties involved here, involving multiple channels of entertainment that could potentially be affected, not to mention distribution of information in any kind of video form.
Since I am no attorney, all I can do here is speculate from the outside. The author demands a jury trial, which indicates to me that he doesn't want any kind of a quick settlement. The issue at hand is whether video game stories and their universes that are similar to other form of storytelling (like books) can "borrow" ideas without compensation being offered. Science fiction as a genre has been around a lot longer than video games, and so the chances of similarities cropping up between video games and sci-fi books would naturally interweave at some point.
I've never even heard of this book! Come on, if he is so upset about it why didn't he file it earlier!? People these days are just so jealous.
OK if he came up with a similar story line then why did he wait so long to say anything? if he wrote his book in 03 and the first assassins came out in 07 and are stile making games now why did he not say anything at all about it. cuz if assassins creed 3 gets postponed or canceled IL be super pissed.
Ok, so he says UbiSoft directly copied their story from his book. So he's saying that if I read "Link" right now, it would be about a war between Assassin's & Templars, an Assassin named Altiar who was born into the Assassin Brotherhood. And maybe later in the book, there's an Italian named Ezio who wants revenge for Templars killing his family, and near the end is a man named Connor who is Native American & British who wants revenge on the Red Coats because of something they did when he was a kid. And maybe a guy named Desmond which nobody cares about. If all this happened in his book, then it's directly copied. But most likely it didn't happen, so this is a false claim that UbiSoft "directly copied" from his book.
Screw the author his case will get dismissed or he will get counter-sued cause hes declaring that if anything "resembles" his book is copying his work. IT'S NOT. He says that his book mentions real-life events, religion and going back in time to live through them...stupid what book, movie, or any other work doesn't have cover them. He is idiotically declaring himself rights to all the plot devices mentioned above which is not true. Second, Assassin's Creed is about the struggle two opposing groups which are templars and assassins brotherhood. Third, hes retarded to have barely started copyright infringement when he should've done so in the first game. No judge will get him what he wants.
We will get our game! The release date was confirmed on the AC 3 fan page on Facebook... after the story about the lawsuit was posted.
wow, a guys trying to get money for a big successful game. If this is the case than there would be plagerism everywhere. Just suck it up dude. They came out with a great game.
Book: First riders call. Game: Legend of Zelda.
Book: Bible. GameS: Do I even need to write all those.
Jesus would have a field day with that one!
Ubisoft just released some concept art from 2004 for Assassins Creed that shows the team initially believed they were working on a new Prince of Persia game. This most likely means no ancestral memory or animus and so on.