Midway wins one: publisher cleared of Psi-Ops lawsuit
Finally, some good news for Midway. The embattled publisher has been cleared of the copyright infringement case brought against it by screenwriter William L. Crawford III.
Finally, some good news for Midway. The embattled publisher has been cleared of the copyright infringement case brought against it by screenwriter William L. Crawford III.
Crawford sued Midway last year for allegedly stealing ideas from a screenplay of his called “Psi-Ops”. The stolen ideas were supposedly used for the Midway game Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy.
According to Crawford, both the script and the game had striking similarities including characters, plot elements, and telekinetic powers. Crawford said that Midway may seen his screenplay while he was shopping it around during E3 2001 or from the websites he made to promote it.
Although Crawford copyrighted his screenplay in 1998 and Midway copyrighted the game in 2004, Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled that the similarities between the two works were not protectable under the Copyright Act.
Judge Cooper also noted that there was “minimal evidence supporting a reasonable possibility” that Midway stole Crawford’s ideas and that “[n]o reasonable juror can find that PlaintiffsÂ’ [screenplay and web sites] and DefendantsÂ’ video game are substantially similar in the expression of their ideas.”
This saves Midway from having to pay the US$ 1.5 million that Crawford was seeking in compensation. It’s a small victory, though, as Midway still has to come up with US$ 150 million or declare bankruptcy.
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Via Kotaku