SCEA and David Jaffe sued over God of War copyright infringement
Posted by Dan on September 18, 2008According to Kotaku and Gamepolitics, Sony Computer Entertainment America and designer David Jaffe have been sued in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for alleged copyright infringment involving the action game God of War.
The Complaint was filed in February by Jonathan Bissoon-Dath and Jennifer Barrette-Herzog, and SCEA and Jaffe filed their Answer with the Court on August 29th.
Among the similarities raised in the complaint:
- Plaintiff’s works tell the original story of how a champion saves Athens from destruction by the invading Spartan army that has been sent by Ares… [GoW]… is the story of how a champion chosen by Zeus and Athens saves Athen from destruction by an invading army sent by Ares…
- In plaintiff’s original work and God of War, the Champion’s family is hacked to death in a one-room building in a small peaceful village. In both stories the Champion feels partially responsible even though he is not really to blame…
- In exchange for Kratos’ pledge, Ares gives him… the Blades of Chaos… two massive, glowing, sword-like blades fastened to chains fused to Kratos’s wrists… These Blade of Chaos are taken directly from a scene in Bissoon-Dath’s work… “As Zeus strides forward… his hands MORPH into two massive swords that glow like light sabers…”
- …Owen must cross the Bottomless Valley over a long, sagging suspension bridge, shown on Barrette-Herzog’s map… in God of War Kratos must cross the Bottomless Chasm on a long, sagging suspension bridge…
Jaffe’s response denies all of the plaintiff’s substantive allegations, and raises affirmative defenses on grounds that the plaintiff’s work is not original authorship, is in the public domain, is improperly registered, that plaintiffs lack standing, that there is federal issue preclusion over one of the causes of action, and that the causes of action fail to assert a claim upon which relief can be granted.
We’ll keep you posted as more information unravels on this case.
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Just on the facts provided, I have to side with Jaffe and Sony. Interplay between the mortals and the gods has been a central theme of cautionary fiction since the time of Plato and Aristotle. If that isn’t public domain, I am sure I don’t know what is.
Even if the specific story elements aren’t public domain, there’s still a Scenes à faire argument that could be raised. If you’re going to make a Hercules-style epic mythos game, most of the claimed elements are “scenes that must be done.”
The problem is that even though the majority of it is public domain, there’s just a few things that are just too close similarities, especially in light of viewing the map. It may not rise to the level of being actionable, but I find it hard to believe that Jaffe and Sony didn’t take some sort of inspiration from the Bissoon-Dath map.
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