Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Marvel sues computer game company for allowing players to create Marvel-like characters. The complaint alleges direct, contributory and vicarious copyright and trademark infringement. My immediate reaction, without much exposure to the game: direct copyright (and perhaps trademark) infringement -- possible, depending entirely on the marketing materials; contributory and vicarious trademark infringement -- ludicrous, since the players are not using the characters to sell anything; and contributory and vicarious copyright infringement -- very interesting. It's not quite the same as suing Crayola for providing the tools for kids to draw Wolverine, but it's definitely on the spectrum.

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