Ubisoft has turned the tables on the author who claimed that Assassin’s Creed ripped off his ideas.
In April, you may recall, author John Beiswenger filed a lawsuit against Ubisoft, claiming that many of the central ideas in Assassin’s Creed were lifted from his 2003 novel Link. Yesterday he voluntarily dismissed the suit, not because he saw any error in his ways but because he just couldn’t afford to carry it through. He dismissed “without prejudice,” however, which means that he can pick up where he left off if at some point in the future he has the resources to do so.
But Ubisoft is trying to head off that potential future hassle by filing a complaint of its own, seeking a declaration that the franchise does not infringe upon Beiswenger’s work and that his claims are based on “patently non-copyrightable elements.”
“A declaration is necessary to enable Ubisoft to continue to develop and market creative content under the Assassin’s Creed brand free from the cloud that Beiswenger’s meritless claims have placed over Ubisoft’s right to do so,” the complaint says.
“Ubisoft believes this suit was frivolous and without merit, and is seeking a ruling to prevent future related claims,” the company said in a statement. “We are proud of our creative teams and will continue to vigorously defend the intellectual property they develop.”
Aside from the ruling against Beiswenger, it also seeks legal costs incurred by the lawsuit and whatever “further relief” the court finds appropriate.
Source: Gamasutra
