Notch Asks For Trial By Combat

Vrallis writes "As reported recently, Mojang AB, the creators of Minecraft, have been sued by Bethesda over the name of their latest project, Scrolls, citing a trademark infringement with their Elder Scrolls games. In his latest blog post, Notch, the founder of Mojang, has challenged Bethesda to a trial by combat. Specifically, a frag match in Quake 3."

Comments

Mods

[operagost]

I assume that, in the old dueling tradition, his opponent gets to choose the mod. I recommend INSTAGIB.

Win-win i guess?

[Daetrin]

If he actually gets them to agree to this then even if he loses it ought to generate enough publicity to make up for having to change the name.

Someone's been watching too much Game of Thrones

[barlevg]

I do remember reading that, according to some interpretations, Trial by Combat *may indeed* be legal under the US legal system...

He challenged Idthesda to an Idthesda game

[tepples]

I assume that, in the old dueling tradition, his opponent gets to choose the mod.

According to the article, the sides alternate choosing levels. But seeing as Bethesda's parent company owns Id Software, three of Bethesda's best warriors might be people who actually developed Q3A. So in a sense, it already is on Bethesda's home turf.

Re:He challenged Idthesda to an Idthesda game

[PhrostyMcByte]

In my experience playing with coders and mappers: the people who make games are rarely star players.

Re:He challenged Idthesda to an Idthesda game

[TheCarp]

And why would I listen to a head on a stick that talks backwards and I pelted with about 500 rockets?

More information

[uigrad_2000]

Notch just got married this weekend, and is officially away right now, for his honeymoon. This lawsuit came up at a terrible time, and this is the way that Notch handles such stuff.

Notch seems to read and reply most to comments on the minecraft channel at reddit. The thread there would probably be the place to post if you want to volunteer as one of the representatives :)

Re:Bizzaro Response:

[SanityInAnarchy]

Why does Notch expect them to sell-out their morals and instincts for a few fleeting moments of fun and chance to be the bigger person over something they're making a bigger deal about than necessary?

Because if they accept, they get tons of good press, way more than the current bad press they're getting for suing over a single word. In fact, I'd imagine it would turn out better for them than if they'd never sued at all.

Re:Someone's been watching too much Game of Throne

[uigrad_2000]

I do remember reading that, according to some interpretations, Trial by Combat *may indeed* be legal under the US legal system...

And there is a history of trademark disputes being settled this way.

Re:What a bunch of pricks.

[ThatsMyNick]

Correction: Bethesda's lawyers are being total assholes here.

Nope, they are just helping Bethesda defend their trademark (remember, if you dont defend it, you lose it, especially since Notch is also is also in the same gaming business).

Re:What a bunch of pricks.

[Barefoot Monkey]

Nope, they are just helping Bethesda defend their trademark (remember, if you dont defend it, you lose it, especially since Notch is also is also in the same gaming business).

They can't lose something that they have never had. Bethesda do not have "Scrolls" as a trademark for a computer game, and do not stand to lose "The Elder Scrolls" by doing nothing here. Furthermore, all Notch has done is apply for trademark on a name that he plans to use. There's nothing wrong with that - it's just diligence - and filing a suit about that is rather arbitrary. If Bethesda's representatives have an issue with that then they should just contest the application.

Re:A better name

[xhrit]

"Super Cool Really Original Leveling & Looting Simulator"