Marvel Sues over City of Heroes [Nov 12, 2004, 10:40 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Marvel sues two companies over role-playing game is an article announcing
the Comic Book Publisher is suing NCsoft and Cryptic Studios over City of
Heroes. No word on whether Matt Murdock is handling Marvel's case:
The lawsuit claims South Korea-based NCSoft and San Jose-based Cryptic Studios violated Marvel's trademark characters in their game City of Heroes. Marvel seeks unspecified damages and an injunction against the two companies to stop using its characters.
The personal computer game enables players to design superheroes' look and abilities and then battle against other players' characters in a virtual city. Like similar so-called massively multiplayer role-playing games where thousands of players can be playing simultaneously at any given time, City of Heroes claims to offer a myriad of combinations so that no two players' characters are exactly the same.
But in its lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, Marvel argues that the game's character creation engine easily allows players to design characters that are virtual copies of its own superheros, including "The Incredible Hulk."
In related news, the Nazi party has filed a civil suit against numerous game developers, including NCSoft, Electronic Arts, id Software, Gearbox Software, and DICE, among the 30 different defendants named. The lawsuit claims that these companies illegally used 'trademarked imagery' of the Nazi party in violation of their intellectual property rights.
"We take IP violations very seriously," said Hermann Volschtad, council for the plaintiffs. "Our unique images and reputation are some of our most valuable assets, and yet these developers flagrantly use our property as integral parts of their own products. I suppose this sort of criminal behavior isn't surprising, as we all -know- who really runs the entertainment industry."
"We finally decided enough was enough," stated Adolf Hitler, current CEO of the Nazi party. "I've had my brain in a jar since 1945. It's famous. Yet, with their 'mother brain' character, Nintendo -blatantly- infringed upon my trademarked image. We decided that now, it was finally time to put our jackboots down."
While the companies have refused to comment on the case, the Klu Klux Klan has filed a similar complaint against the creator of the Smurfs, citing illegal use of the "pointy white hood" motif.
"We take IP violations very seriously," said Hermann Volschtad, council for the plaintiffs. "Our unique images and reputation are some of our most valuable assets, and yet these developers flagrantly use our property as integral parts of their own products. I suppose this sort of criminal behavior isn't surprising, as we all -know- who really runs the entertainment industry."
"We finally decided enough was enough," stated Adolf Hitler, current CEO of the Nazi party. "I've had my brain in a jar since 1945. It's famous. Yet, with their 'mother brain' character, Nintendo -blatantly- infringed upon my trademarked image. We decided that now, it was finally time to put our jackboots down."
While the companies have refused to comment on the case, the Klu Klux Klan has filed a similar complaint against the creator of the Smurfs, citing illegal use of the "pointy white hood" motif.
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