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IPLJ FEATURE: The Gamer’s Realm

August 30, 2011 In Blog, Copyright, Trademark, Video Games By Gregg Katz

IPLJ FEATURE: The Gamer’s Realm

Minecraft Creator Sued By Elder Scrolls Developer, Challenges Them to Game Of “Quake”

IGN had originally reported that Marcus “Notch” Persson, the creator of Minecraft, had been sent a letter by Elder Scrolls developer Bethesda Softworks over the title of his next game, “Scrolls.”  Persson explained the situation on his personal blog, which can be read here.  He originally suggested a compromise where he would agree to never put any words in front of “Scrolls.”  However, Persson has since offered a different way to settle the dispute… in a decidedly non-legal way.

Instead of dealing with paperwork and the court system Persson took to his blog and issued a challenge to Bethesda to play a match of the multi-player PC game Quake 3 to decide the case.  Persson states “If we win, you drop the lawsuit.  If you win, we will change the name of Scrolls to something you’re fine with.  Regardless of the outcome, we could still have a small text somewhere saying our game is not related to your game series in any way, if you wish.”

More on the game currently titled “Scrolls” can be found here.

Above “feature” image: Screen Shot from Elder Scrolls

Gregg Katz

Gregg Katz is a 3L at Fordham University School of Law. He grew up on Long Island, New York and played a lot a video games and watched a lot of TV. Now he is trying to turn those interests into a career in entertainment law. Gregg is IPLJ's resident video game expert but we promised him we'd keep that secret between us.