Valve versus Sierra [Sep 20, 2004, 11:34 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Valve vs.
Vivendi Universal dogfight heats up in US District Court on GameSpot (thanks
Democritus) reveals some details of a behind-the-scenes legal battle between
Valve and Sierra (now part of VU Games) over Half-Life and Half-Life 2 that's
been brewing for several years now. The article picks through details of a
recent court filing by Valve that reveals the current state of the litigation,
which has its next court date on October 8, though an actual trial is not
scheduled until March 21, 2005. Included are disputes over what
role Steam is to take in the game's distribution and who actually holds rights
to the Half-Life intellectual property. Here's a segment that summarizes some of
this:
In court filings, Sierra/VUG says that the current distribution of Half-Life 2 via Steam exceeds the scope of the current software publishing agreement between the two parties. It is apparently seeking the court's assistance in compelling Valve not to use Steam as an avenue of distribution.
On Friday, when asked if Valve was remained intent on making Half-Life 2 available to gamers via Steam, regardless of what was determined on October 8, Lombardi replied, "Yes."
Interestingly, and in spite of the ongoing legal dispute, Sierra/VUG still wants to work with Valve in the future and is asking the court via filings to force Valve to work with it on whatever is next in the development pipeline. It asks the court, in filings, "for a declaration that Sierra and VUG have the right to a fourth engine license pursuant to the terms of...the 2001 Agreement."
According to Lombardi, "We're going to meet the obligations of our current agreement."
There is one quote from the GameSpot article that I found quite interesting which relates to a new agreement that was created in 2001 between publisher and developer.
"Among other concessions, Sierra agreed to relinquish intellectual property rights and to allow Valve certain rights to the online distribution of games."
Depending upon what these "certain rights" are then Valve could have an open and shut case. If, and I repeat if, they were given the rights to their own online distribution method then legally (I'm assuming of course cuz I'm no lawyer) they should be able to use Steam as an alternative distribution method (and make money from it). I'm sure Sierra at the time laughed at the thought of an online distribution method, especially for a game that is GB's in size, and didn't consider it much of a threat.
Of course, the devil is in the details, and unless you know those details, then no one really will know the outcome. Hopefully more details will be released in the future about this agreement.
"Among other concessions, Sierra agreed to relinquish intellectual property rights and to allow Valve certain rights to the online distribution of games."
Depending upon what these "certain rights" are then Valve could have an open and shut case. If, and I repeat if, they were given the rights to their own online distribution method then legally (I'm assuming of course cuz I'm no lawyer) they should be able to use Steam as an alternative distribution method (and make money from it). I'm sure Sierra at the time laughed at the thought of an online distribution method, especially for a game that is GB's in size, and didn't consider it much of a threat.
Of course, the devil is in the details, and unless you know those details, then no one really will know the outcome. Hopefully more details will be released in the future about this agreement.
Date
Subject
Author
Copyright © 1996-2025 Stephen Heaslip. All rights reserved.
All trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
Privacy Policy. Manage Cookie Settings.
News CGI copyright © 1999-2025 James "furn" Furness & Blue's News. All rights reserved.
Chatbear v1.5.0/blue++: Page generated 12 June 2025, 18:07.