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]
if this game gets canceled because of some jack off im gunna be pissed
I could make a similar claim with a lot of si-fi books and games... there are going to ba a lot of angery people if AC 3 is stalled!
And this is how the world is going to end, by some *** attempting to cancel ac3
I hope this guy is just looking for a quick buck, if there is any truth to this and AC3 doesn't release... I'll cry.
Yeah, f*uck that guy.
Everyone quit bellyaching that this might affect your playing III. Aside from being selfish and whiny, it will never happen. If he won on that front, they would cut a deal and he would get a hell of a lot more money. But if they ripped his idea, he deserves it. So quit whining and wait and see if Ubisoft is guilty of theft or not. You never know...it's possible they are.
1.05 Million - 5.25 million? This guy obviously doesn't realized how much money these games have made LOL! The guy will get a settlement for an undisclosed amount and he will go away. Assassins creed 3 might get delayed, but in the end, it will come out.
I'll buy this book for my kindle and see for myself how close it actually is (Which I'm sure many will be doing thereby giving this guy more book sales).
He likely waited while they built a case against them.. Also, not everyone is a huge gamer. He might not have even realized AC existed until it was somehow brought to his attention. I think to be able to properly judge this, you'd have to have read the book. Anyone here done so?
Two things: One he could just use the games as free advertising for his book. Second, the series has been out for awhile now. If Iwas this guy i would have sued at the first monent I heard about this. So unless he's been living under a rock or in africa doing charity with no access to the outside world then this kinda sounds fishy
Actually , it's not so far-fetched as to think Ubisoft came up with the ideea of Assasin's Creed on the spur of brainstorming.
It previously occured to me that writing up ideas ,even making them up tends to associate unintentionally with things already created that you're not aware of. Not being aware of an ideea or multiple ideeas is a serious error given that you are writing something.
But if things tend to get way too similar to another ideea it can be infringement and plagiaristic.
I don't know the full details of "Link" but Assasin's Creed is unique in its own i might add.
Original ideeas are very scarce these days. Reinventing however is the way today.