This is America and we can sue for whatever we want

After reading the case a lot of what he cites are themes like good vs evil which can't be copyrighted. Also his claim that the animus looks like medical equipment in use today also can't be copyrighted. The rest of his claims just don't make sense since the game is about assassins and genetic memory phrases referring to that are expected. He does not have a case.

What the hell?! This guy is nuts! Plenty of people have thought of time travel and how cool it would be to relive your ancestors memories! just because he couldnt write for *** doesnt mean he has to take it out on them. i checked out the book too, it looks like there was maybe $10 put into the cover. plus if his book was published in 2003, why is he suing now? 5 years after the game was released??

Lovely... I can understand not wanting people to steal your work, but preventing the release of the game?!?!?! What did we ever do to you???

Why are all the *'s in these comments only three letters long, I can't think of any offensive 3 letter insults.

Grrrrr. . . hey man, let's at least settle this AFTER we can all get our hands on AC III. We're BEGGING YOU!!!

I hope they dont stop producton of AC3

I dont think this will go anywhere. This guy and his book are not very notable I cant find anything about it on the web.

I don't really care as much that he was ripped off as that AC III wouldn't be released. He obviously wants money, what's the point of stopping someone's success?

That guy can have $5.25 million of my foot in his A$$.

Hmm. Well, on one side, I can understand that the author is mad because he felt that Ubisoft copied his story. I would be. If I knew that someone had taken my idea and copied it, I'd be beyond ticked.

However.

This guy JUST NOW noticed this? How long has Assassin's Creed been around? Since what? 2006? Maybe 2005? And he JUST NOW noticed this in 2012? Either this guy is not very observant or something fishy is going on.

In any case, I personally think that if it was just a coincidence, then it was just a coincidence, no harm done. If the team at Ubisoft came up with a story on their own that just happens to be similar to Beiswenger's book, then I see no harm in it. It happens all the time. However, if Ubisoft actually KNOWINGLY TOOK this idea from this man, then all I have to say is this: Shame on you, Ubisoft. Shame. On. You.

Personally, I think it's just coincidence. Heck, for all I know, this author could just be blowing this all out of proportion. His book may only be SLIGHTLY similar to Assassin's Creed. I've personally never read "Link", so I don't know. All I know, is that if Ubisoft did knowingly steal his idea, then they need to compensate this man, but if they didn't, Beiswenger shouldn't get a penny from them.

Wow... I wonder how many gaming companies were sued.......

Hmmmmmmmmmm..... Sony, Nintendo,........ And Ubisoft................ Is there more than that?

There is not a chance he will win. If Zynga can get away with copying practically entire games, and just changing the aesthetics, then there is no way that because a book has a device with a similar purpose and function, or uses phrases like "synchronize" and "assassinated", or(most ridiculously) has a theme of good vs.evil, that any game using these would be infringing on its copyright. The idea of a device that accesses genetic memories is not the property of Beiswenger, and without that ownership, the entire case falls through.

What an a$$ clown. If this was legit, he would have known shortly after ACs release in 2005(6?)

I bet he's from IBM

Book came out in 2003. check. First game came out in 2007. check. We're now 4 games and 5 years later, and he wants to complain NOW? Shouldn't there be a statute of limitations on these things?

Where was he when the last AC games released? Somewhere with no TV, computer, ETC? *sigh and stomps away*

I want to sue him for being a Dick at the price of $10.5 million.

Genetic memory has been used in Altered States as well as spoken of in a number of psychedelic books written by Terence Mckenna and other similar authors. This guy is absurd if he thinks he has precedent.

Just hear me out, this is relevant. Ever hear of the Titanic? Well, not too many years before it's maiden voyage, there was a book about a ship called the Titan which was about an "unsinkable" ship which hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic. About 2500 passengers of the Titan died because of a shortage of lifeboats. The voyage was in April, the Titan was about 800 ft long and was about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. Does this mean the author was psychic? NO. IT WAS A COINCIDENCE. JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING IS LIKE YOUR STORY DOES NOT MEAN IT WAS COPIED OFF OF YOUR STORY. Also,if this guy is so sure sure they copied him, why did he wait until NOW to come forward about it? The Assassin's Creed series has been around since 2007, he's had plenty of time to speak up. Why now?