The lawsuit that Mojang claimed would "set a bad example for the industry" may be over. Well, at least for now. According to Markus Persson's (Notch) Twitter account, the Swedish developer has won the interim injunction against Bethesda over the rights to use the "Scrolls" name. "We won the interim injunction!" Persson said, "We can keep using the name "Scrolls"."
But there's still a chance that it could go on. Persson also explained that Bethesda/ZeniMax could appeal the ruling, dragging this case on even further.
For those who haven't been following the case, here's the scoop: Bethesda claimed that Mojang's Scrolls was infringing on their copyright for The Elder Scrolls and Mojang didn't back down. It's obviously a stretch, but many have said that it's important for companies to threaten lawsuits when it comes to copyright laws, for fear of losing their properties' names. We're thinking that the fact that it went this far is proof enough that ZeniMax is committed to protecting its name. In other words: they're not all bark.
What, exactly, does this mean? While it's not the same as Mojang "winning" the full-fledged case, it means that, for the time being, Mojang can continue to use the name "Scrolls" for their card-based PC game. Hopefully, Bethesda will take the hint and bow out of the case with a (very) little grace. We'd personally love to hear that they're dropping the lawsuit entirely, since we'll likely forget all about it when Skyrim releases next month. If they keep pushing after that, though... well, we can't make any promises.
Oct 18, 2011
