

Zynga Sues The Hell Out Of Brazilian Clone Vostu - profitbaron
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/16/war-zynga-sues-the-hell-out-of-brazilian-clone-vostu/

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Shenglong
If they succeed, wouldn't it be essentially overturning 17 USC 102(b)? If none
of the graphics, code, or names are stolen, wouldn't this fall under a method
of operation?

~~~
sehugg
Courts have found in the past that copying a game design closely enough is a
violation of copyright
(<http://itlaw.wikia.com/wiki/Atari_v._North_American_Philips>) and they've
also found the opposite (<http://itlaw.wikia.com/wiki/Data_East_USA_v._EPYX>).

Also see this discussion on misc.misc, circa 1990, re: the Lotus 123
spreadsheet wars:

    
    
      If the plaintiff cannot show that 
      the target customer audience is UNlikely to recognize that the defendant's 
      product is not the same as the plaintiff's then recovery is barred.  Mere 
      similarity between plaintiff's and defendant's products is   not sufficient 
      to support a successful lawsuit.
    

Zynga may have a case here if they can prove that there was intent to make
users think these were Zynga's games.

(i am not a lawyer, i just cut-and-paste from USENET)

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citricsquid
> and employee benefits

That seems mighty obscure and a weird thing to include.

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zatara
Is the Brazilian detail relevant? Or maybe it is is more difficult to sue
Vostu over there.

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lzm
It isn't even Brazilian.

A comment from the article: "Vostu is an american company founded by former
Harvard grads, with development studios in Argentina and targeting the biggest
market for social games in LATAM, which is Brazil. JFYI."

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meterplech
IANAL: But, I bet Zynga ends up trying to buy them when the lawsuit settles.
The huge IP threat certainly devalues the company. And regardless of their
copycatting they have a big presence in a massive market that Zynga doesn't
have.

------
staunch
/me lights up the grellas bat signal.

------
LUTOPiA
Zynga gets Zynga'd

>XD

~~~
thomasgerbe
Yep. Pretty hypocritical of them to be outraged by copy-cats.

~~~
hammock
I never understood why people think just because you are a hypocrite doesn't
mean you still aren't entitled to all the rights everyone else is under the
law.

It's a sad prospect to suggest that your basic property rights can be taken
way for that. Doing one thing and saying another is a part of free speech,
IMO.

~~~
T_S_
The spectators can root for whoever they like as long as the outcome is in
doubt. Your scold only applies to the judge.

