Blizzard sues Chinese game company for infringing on its Warcraft IP

[midian182]

What just happened? We’re used to seeing games that are little more than rip-offs of popular titles, but Blizzard Entertainment believes a free-to-play Chinese game copies its Warcraft IP so closely that it’s decided to sue.

As reported by Polygon, Blizzard alleges that Sina Games’ Glorious Saga—called Glorious World in the Play Store—is “almost entirely copied from the Warcraft games and related products.” It adds that many of the Chinese company’s games are based off well-known other franchises, including Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, and Naruto.

While the Glorious Saga’s gameplay and visuals differ from the Warcraft games, there are obvious similarities in the character designs. As you can see from the side-by-side comparisons below, they not only share the same costumes and looks but also use the same names.

"Defendants did not just copy a few discrete elements from Blizzard's Warcraft games," Blizzard said in the suit. "They created a game whose content is almost entirely copied from the Warcraft games and related products. Every character in the Infringing Game was copied from a character from the Warcraft games, and many even bear the names of popular characters from the Warcraft games such as Jaina Proudmoore, Gul'dan, and Malfurion.”

“Every monster, creature, animal, and vehicle in the Infringing Game was copied from the Warcraft games,” Blizzard added. “Weapons, amulets, and other objects were taken straight from the Warcraft games, without pretense. Audio cues and sound effects from the Warcraft games were reproduced for the Infringing Game.”

Blizzard says Sina Games has “profited handsomely” by allegedly copying elements from its famous franchise. The Warcraft creator is seeking a court order to stop the defendants running the game. It also wants Sina Games to turn over copies of the source code and the servers and computers where it’s maintained, and transfer the InstantFuns website domain to Blizzard. Additionally, it asks for “$150,000 per infringed work,” along with attorney and other fees.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/81665-blizzard-sues-chinese-game-company-infringing-warcraft-ip.html

 

[Peter Farkas]

Yeah good luck with catching Sina Games for that...

 

[Bannhammer]

I would normally say Blizzard has been slowly running itself into the ground for years; trying to please the investors at the expense of the old fans....But WoW classic just came out and it's awesome. Now I am somewhat concerned about the health of the company, since they finally have something on the market worth playing again.

 

[Skjorn]

Im no Blizzard fan but I hope this Chinese company gets sued into the dirt.

 

[fps4ever]

China being China. Steals everything it can without impunity.

 

[AIC1Drew]

MERICA!

 

[ShagnWagn]

"it asks for “$150,000 per infringed work,”"

So, are we talking about the whole game being a "work", or per every little thing? Like copying a name, $150k? copying a staff, $150k? copying one sound, $150k? If so, I hope the court case gets thrown out because of their greed.

I would grant them $150k plus the other fees. If I saw they copy a lot of other games, then I may award more to make it a lesson. I would not grant them the hardware since that has nothing to do with the copyright. That's like requesting every employee's cars since it took them to the office to enable them to create the game. sigh

 

[DukeJukem]

"it asks for “$150,000 per infringed work,”"

So, are we talking about the whole game being a "work", or per every little thing? Like copying a name, $150k? copying a staff, $150k? copying one sound, $150k? If so, I hope the court case gets thrown out because of their greed.

I would grant them $150k plus the other fees. If I saw they copy a lot of other games, then I may award more to make it a lesson. I would not grant them the hardware since that has nothing to do with the copyright. That's like requesting every employee's cars since it took them to the office to enable them to create the game. sigh

You expect someone to only pay a total of $150k for completely stealing an entire game from an American company? Let alone the most popular mmorpg in existence? China has been making so much money off of America forever. I hope they have to pay billions for this infringement. Blizzard wipes their *** with $150k.

 

[ShagnWagn]

You expect someone to only pay a total of $150k for completely stealing an entire game from an American company? Let alone the most popular mmorpg in existence? China has been making so much money off of America forever. I hope they have to pay billions for this infringement. Blizzard wipes their *** with $150k.

No. Their suit is $150k per "work". That was my root question, and you ignored it.

This sounds like some MPAA/RIAA bullcrap that a single song copy is $250k in damages and 5 years of prison sentence. So, how many "works" are they being sued for? 1,000? 5,000? So, a lawsuit of $750,000,000? I don't deny there needs to be a stiff penalty, but if it is done by "works", then we just have another media company extorting people for bullcrap and imaginary monetary penalties. "You owe me $150,000 for copying the idea of my staff"... SMH

 

[OutlawCecil]

100% a rip off. yep!
100% chance this lawsuit will go nowhere.
100% US laws that don't apply to other countries.

 

[DukeJukem]

You expect someone to only pay a total of $150k for completely stealing an entire game from an American company? Let alone the most popular mmorpg in existence? China has been making so much money off of America forever. I hope they have to pay billions for this infringement. Blizzard wipes their *** with $150k.

No. Their suit is $150k per "work". That was my root question, and you ignored it.

This sounds like some MPAA/RIAA bullcrap that a single song copy is $250k in damages and 5 years of prison sentence. So, how many "works" are they being sued for? 1,000? 5,000? So, a lawsuit of $750,000,000? I don't deny there needs to be a stiff penalty, but if it is done by "works", then we just have another media company extorting people for bullcrap and imaginary monetary penalties. "You owe me $150,000 for copying the idea of my staff"... SMH

yes I ignored it because afterwords you asked if it was 150k for each item and I expressed thats how it should be. I read everything you said.

 

[ShagnWagn]

yes I ignored it because afterwords you asked if it was 150k for each item and I expressed thats how it should be. I read everything you said.

The root question was never answered officially. So agrees an employee of MPAA/RIAA, filled with greed from the love of money. Why not raise it to $500,000 per similarity and 20 years in prison?

By the way, you are using a name similar to Duke Nukem for every website or email address you have used it on. You owe them $150k in copyright per infringement. See how ridiculous that is?

 

[amstech]

I'm not one to root for the bad guy, as my favorite Orc is Rehgar Earthfury, but I've always liked Gul'dan.

 

[Kibaruk]

The root question was never answered officially. So agrees an employee of MPAA/RIAA, filled with greed from the love of money. Why not raise it to $500,000 per similarity and 20 years in prison?

This is in relation to how much the franchise has made, and breaking that into how much of that work made how much.

By the way, you are using a name similar to Duke Nukem for every website or email address you have used it on. You owe them $150k in copyright per infringement. See how ridiculous that is?

He is not profiting from it, nor trying to make anyone think he has anything related to that franchise. See how that works?

 

[ShagnWagn]

This is in relation to how much the franchise has made, and breaking that into how much of that work made how much.


He is not profiting from it, nor trying to make anyone think he has anything related to that franchise. See how that works?

Then, don't make it "per work". I'm not really against the dollar amount, but their approach to it. Make it a lump sum rather than the dog and pony show/smoke and mirrors.

Obviously he did by using a name similar to it, which I noticed. How can you prove he is not elsewhere? Techspot is profiting from it by having another active account, which they generate money from. More responses and accounts drives up interaction and advertising money. TS is profiting from it by allowing it to continue rather than ban the account. Just an example.

 

[Kibaruk]

Yes... techspot is profiting from it... /shrug

When talking legal mumbo jumbo things need to be justified in a way that makes no sense to us the common folks who can't translate mumbo jumbo.

 

[treetops]

Like pirated servers haven't been a thing for over a decade