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EA Sued Over Madden 06 Feature
von_blapp writes "EA is being sued over the Super Star feature that is included in Madden '06. Pernell Harris, owner of Virtual Jam is suing EA over a confidentiality violation. Harris claims when he met with EA in '03 he discussed a game called Heart Of A Champion, in this game players take high school athletes from the schools to the pros insuring their grades are kept up and even picking their parents for the optimum gene pool. This is the same feature as in the current game released by EA."
This guy should lose. I'm tired of all these "OMG I was the one who thought they should use Mario in a tennis game!! I even posted it on a forum, so I have proof! Nintendo ripped my idea off, so I'm suing!" type of mentalities.
Just because somebody has a cool idea and shares it doesn't mean if anybody implements that idea they can sue.
Seriously, if you're not making it, and you're not fine with other people doing it, keep your damn ideas to yourself.
And, honestly, how original of an idea is it to simulate a rising star's upbringing and career?
Ideas for games are cheap. Everybody's got an idea for a game. Everybody's got hundreds of ideas for games. It's the implementation that counts, and getting that right is damn hard work.
I'm certainly not EA's biggest fan (especially as I work for a competitor!), but I find it difficult to believe that this case has any merit.
So did this loser ever copyright or patent the idea?
Does he have any actual proof that this idea was his?
Was he smart enough to make EA sign a contract and/or agreement to not use his idea(s) without his licensing or permission?
If not, then he walked right in, and handed them his ideas, and there's really not anything he can do about it.
Stupidity is not, nor should it ever be, rewarded.
Having faith in other people should never be considered stupid. Naive maybe, but not stupid.
Being an ass is not, nor should it ever be, accepted.
Religion for nerds. Stuff that really matters
I know two people from college who had the exact same idea (seperately of each other) a couple years ago. I'm sure tens of thousands of people have had the same idea across the country. Did any of them do it? No. EA did. I'm all for "fuck corporations" as much as the next guy, but this is just ridiculous. Ideas are worthless until you actually implement them. I have some ideas that I'm convinced would make fantastic games, but I'm not in a position to make it happen right now. If someone beats me to the punch, I might be a little pissed that I didn't get to do it first, but it's stupid to sue over it.
Slashdot needs a "-1, Wrong" moderation option.
The Urban Hippie
Confidentiality agreements are common practice in these sort of arrangements. If there were no CA, then this guy doesn't have a leg to stand on. As soon as I read the story summary, I assumed there was a CA being violated. If EA did sign a CA, and that CA covered the idea he presented, and the idea EA eventually developed came from him and was not demonstrably developed beforehand, then he has a chance of winning. Given he has enough money to field enough lawyers for enough time, of course.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
Copyright protection applies as soon as the work is set down in a fixed medium (written, recorded, drawn, whatever). If he wrote his ideas down prior to this meeting with EA, they're protected by copyright, and he may have a case that the game is a derivative work.
I don't see how patent would apply here.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood