Hasbro, Inc. and Wizards of the Coast LLC (hereafter referred to collectively as “Hasbro”) filed a lawsuit against Sweetpea Entertainment, Inc. and Sweetpea B.V.I. LTD. (hereafter referred to collectively as “Sweetpea”) mainly for copyright and trademark infringement. Hasbro claims that it owns the ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ copyright and trademark, and therefore Sweetpea has no right to start or resume production of a new Dungeons and Dragons movie. The lawsuit ensued when Hasbro learned about Sweetpea’s motion picture deal with Warner Bros. (“WB”).
Facts
Dungeons and Dragons (“D&D”, the “Property ”) is a fantasy role-playing game that encourages players to imagine adventures. Each player can choose from one of the seven character classes, each has its own traits and specialties, to become its alter ego throughout the adventure. A Dungeon Master, who sets out rules, guides the players in their adventure and governs the game. The game comprises of an “entire universe of settings, rules, creatures and artifacts disseminated in books, magazines and other publications [.] (Sweetpea vs. Hasbro, 2013)” In 1974, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson published the first D&D under Tactical Studies Rules, Inc., later became TSR, Inc. (“TSR”).
Courtney Solomon, one of the majority shareholders of Sweetpea, has wanted to turn D&D into a feature film since he experienced the role-playing game. When he discovered that no one has acquired for the motion picture rights to D&D, he contacted TSR and submitted a proposal. After two years of proposal after proposal, and extensive negotiations, TSR and Sweetpea entered into an Option Agreement dated May 3, 1991 (the “Option Agreement”). Sweetpea exercised the option and arrived at an Exclusive Irrevocable License ...
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...o choose the litigation path? I don’t know. It could be that it missed reading the contract, but for a huge company with an army of lawyers, Hasbro is not one to miss something like this. It saw something we haven’t seen. Or maybe it’s just a tactical way to delay productions to Sweetpea’s fourth D&D movie. It could be that Hasbro’s exhausting all of Sweetpea’s resources to this litigation to ultimately nix the fourth D&D movie and effectively revert the sequel rights back to Hasbro. There are many possibilities and evidence that hasn’t been discovered, and questions only a jury can answer.
For now, Sweetpea wins this case, as its arguments are more solid and compelling. Supported only by the Agreement and contract fulfillment, Sweetpea retains all rights to the license of the D&D property as outlined in the original Agreement, and the First and Second Amendments.
In my opinion, if the jury in this case subtracted the contractual claims against the profits, they would have arrived at different damage/entitlement amounts. My guess is Main Line would have been entitled to much less than what was awarded in this case.
The first claim that I’ll discuss is that D&D causes players to commit suicide. According to http://www.webzonecom.com/ccn/cults/satn10.txt, Dr. Radedki, “chairman of the National Coalition on Television Violence”, said “[t]here is no doubt in my mind that the game Dungeons and Dragons is causing young men to kill themselves and others.” A character in the Chick Tract “Dark Dungeons” commits suicide after her character dies in the game. The conception seems to be that players get so obsessed by the game, so enthralled, that when something goes wrong (like their character dying) they have difficulty dealing with the consequences. They have so much difficulty, it is claimed, that they sometimes kill themselves because of it.
Movies today are extremely expensive to make and are typically financed through either film studio contracts or from investors willing to take a risk. In order to be successful, movies need to be marketed and distributed either under contract by the film studios or by companies that specialize in such services. The aspects of financing, marketing and distribution of films have changed between the studio and independent systems over the years as the evolution of the film industry took place.
Opinion by Carnes, Circuit Judge. We conclude that the district court’s judgment was an appealable “final decision”. We also hold that the arbitration agreement in this case defeats the remedial purposes of the TILA and is unenforceable.
How are the principals of Arundel Partners planning to make money by buying rights to sequels? They would be interested in purchasing the sequel rights for one or more studios¡¦ entire production over an extended period of not less than a year. If a particular film was a hit, and Arundel thought a sequel would be profitable, it would exercise its rights by producing the sequel. Alternatively, they can sell the rights to the highest bidder. Inevitably, the performance of the original films would not justify sequels, and for them the sequel rights would simply not be exercised. For most movies it becomes quite clear after their first few weeks in theaters whether a sequel would be economical or not, based upon each film's box office performance.
Plaintiff website operator, KinderStart.com filed a complaint against Defendant Google, alleging nine claims for relief: violation of the right to free speech under the United States and California Constitutions; attempted monopolization in violation of the Sherman Act; monopolization in violation of the Sherman Act; violations of the Communications Act, unfair competition under California Business and Professions Code §§ 17200; unfair practices under California Business and Professions Code; breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; defamation and libel, and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage. The Court dismissed Plaintiff’s first complaint with leave to amend. Plaintiff then proceed to file an amended complaint asserting s...
• The franchise was new and not yet proven in the industry or the potential market
Since the advent of computers, fantasy role-playing games have made the leap from table top to computer. While the concept has stayed the same, many aspects of the games have evolved. Neverwinter Nights is a role-playing game that uses an electronic model similar to the popular tabletop game called Dungeons & Dragons. In Neverwinter Nights, the player ultimately becomes the hero of the story. The player is tasked with a number of challenging quests that test both the character and, hence, the player throughout a four chapter storyline. While the character might ultimately become the hero of Neverwinter, this game model offers choices that affect the dialogue and experience that each player has, and unlike tabletop games, the world of Neverwinter gives the player the option to play singly, with only non-player (computer controlled) characters. Another option, multiplayer, uses both non-player characters and other players. Additionally, the creators used literary elements to create a gender-friendly role-playing environment for both men and women.
The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Animation Studios Inc. were two of the largest movie and entertainment studios. Disney owned and operated an unparalleled portfolio of theme parks classic movies and characters. Pixar was the leading creative and technological computer generated imagery (CGI) studio but lacked extensive product offerings and distribution channels. At the time of the merger agreement, Disney’s traditional hand-drawn animation films were declining in popularity with the introduction of CGI films. Meanwhile, Pixar possessed the creative and technical resources that Disney lacked, but was unable to profit from characters and films after movie ticket and DVD sales, which were typically one-time purchases. Additionally, the production and distribution contract between Pixar and Disney was rapidly approaching its expiration. Instead of renewing the contract, the two companies decided to merge with the intention of capitalizing on ...
In Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment Inc. the Supreme Court was asked to overturn the 50-year old Brulotte rule that states, “a patent holder cannot charge royalties for the use of his invention after its patent term has expired”. In a decision that hinged on the principle of stare decisis the Court upheld the decision of the Brulotte.
The planned settlement is a concession reflecting the reality that ending the hearing would expose Microsoft to an undefined result and would put the government case at risk. The government dropped numerous basics of the conduct remedies that they had accomplished in the original hearing and the ...
...ts Entertainment Co. does not only make game it also creates novels, toys, clothes, board games, and etc. based on Star Wars and other Lucas Film products.
that Daniel submitted in order to get a clear opinion so that their firm may get an exclusive
In 1978, Roy Trubshaw at the Universe of Essex in England created a program he called a “multi-user Dungeon” (Reid, 1994). This game was...
Finally, by not ordering the transfer of the domain names from Nissan Computer to Nissan Motor Co. the courts action was fair to both parties and the general public. Nissan Motor Co. had enough time to register their domain name; therefore they had no legal or ethical rights to acquire the domain names from Nissan Computer. Overall the courts acted in good faith to both parties and the society as a whole.