Gamertell

In Iowa, a 32-year-old man may spend 20 years in prison for possession of Japanese manga and will face penalties under the PROTECT Act (18 U.S.C. Section 1466A). Christopher Handley is still in big trouble because of the manga he purchased from Japan in May 2006 that the government claimed was obscene and depicted minors engaged in sexual acts.

Luckily for Handley, he no longer has to face the court system alone as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has decided to provide their expertise as a consultant to the defense and provide funds for use to support in obtaining…

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Dogs and cats are living together. Rainbows are everywhere. Jack Thompson has been permanently disbarred.

The Florida lawyer, who is best known to gamers as that dern lawyer who keeps hatin’ on our fun, was disbarred yesterday (September 25, 2008). The disbarment begins 30 days from yesterday so he can close out his practice, so expect some last-minute antics if not long-term appeals (which needs to be submitted by a lawyer in good standing with the Florida Bar - good luck). He’s also to pay $43,675 in Florida Bar fees.

Thompson sent Kotaku a copy of an emergency motion he filed with the court and a…

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If all that excitement over the recent Watchman trailer wasn’t enough for you, consider the legal drama over the film’s right to exist. Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox are locked in what could be a very bloody battle with the film (directed by Zack Snyder and set to release on March 6, 2009) at stake. Here’s the gist, minus the legal jargon: Fox is trying to get an injunction to bar the release of the flick, and Warner Bros. position is that they have no (legal) leg to stand on with their argument.

There’s a long history here, where Fox first sought rights to make a film out of the property, then abandoned the project. Sour grapes much? Maybe, but the movie business is about as cutthroat as it gets. ICV2 is reporting on the ongoing feud, which they speculate may end in a deal with Fox to get a share of the sure-to-be-huge profits. After all, everyone and their dog was excited by the trailer, and comic book movies are huge right now (box office gold, anyone?).

Read [ICV2 ]

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Not much can make the heart race like doing something you know you’re not supposed to be doing. Perhaps that is why so many games rely on big-time crimes to provide adrenalin-boosting activities - stealing cars, massive property damage and murder.

Although videogames do allow people to partake in ethically questionable activities without actually hurting anyone or anything, not all illegal activities would make good games.

In the spirit of Grand Theft Auto, here are a few theoretical games with illegal activities for names that would simply never sell (which should make at least a few parents happy)...

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Square Enix Co., Ltd., recently announced the results of its copyright infringement case against Korean pop singer Ivy’s music video Temptation Sonata that aired in February 2007. The video was produced by HONG Jeong-ho and the Fantom Entertainment Group (a talent agency).

The Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of Square Enix and ordered the talent agency and Jeong-ho to pay damages up to…

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These days an ideological line seems to divide the whole world into two halves. On one side of this ideological equator are the gamers and on the other side are the detractors of video games. Due to the increasing number of controversies around video games, some of which lead to court cases, video game lawyers are experiencing a windfall. Another major reason for video game lawyers earning serious bucks is the fact that the video game industry is flooded with cash and future growth prospects look even better.

The games industry is on an all time high and is expected to overtake even the music industry in terms of sales sometime next year according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The firm has also pegged video game sales this year at $10.4 billion, an increase of 15.5% 2006. The boom in the video gaming industry has provided new, lucrative avenues to lawyers. They tend to perform a wide array of legal tasks within the games industry…

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Across the Atlantic, Manhunt 2 bore the brunt of the fierce campaign against excessively violent games. In the US, however, the Manhunt 2 episode doesn’t seem to have set any precedents, at least that’s how it appears for federal judge Ronald Whyte. In his recent ruling ruling, Whyte decided a California state law baring minors from playing violent games was unconstitutional. In anticipation to California Governor - and former movie star - Arnold Schwarzenegger’s expected appeal against the judgement, the Entertainment Software Association’s Video Game Voters Network (VGVN) is gathering support.

VGVN has uploaded the lengthy ruling on its website and is urging gamers to write to the Governor through the website in protest of the appeal. VGVN has also launched a diatribe against Gov. Schwarzenegger, labeling his movies as “violent.“ The group’s main contention is…

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I swear I’m not trying to dig up an old news story. No, really. Former footballer and occasional film actor, O.J. Simpson, was ordered by the Los Angeles Superior Court to pay all the money he earned from his likeness being uses in All-Pro Football 2K8 to the family of the late Ronald Goldman.

The order was to satisfy part of the judgment for wrongful death passed on Simpson back in 1997, with 33.5 million to be paid by Simpson. The amount of the money Simpson was paid by Take-Two was not indicated.

The game, by Take-Two Interactive Software, includes images of 240 former pro football players including Simpson. It also features a knife-wielding mascot for a…

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Nintendo, which once became infamous for being stingy with its own hardware licensing, is being accused of unlawfully using another company’s.  Texas-based Lonestar Inventions LP recently filed a suit against Nintendo, charging that the Wii has infringed on Lonestar’s 1993 patent.

Lonestar patented a structure for capacitors which took up less space by using parallel conducting stripes.  The suit alleges the same design appears in the Nintendo product. The company is seeking triple damages, though no specific amount was reported, and an injunction against Nintendo from using the disputed technology.

Lonestar has won suits against other companies for ...

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