Zenimax v DoomRL

[TheMightyHeracross]

This thread title should be changed and the OP edited accordingly, as Zenimax isn't exactly Cease and Desisting DoomRL... yet. It's only a trademark issue, as explained earlier. Someone who doesn't read past the OP might get the wrong idea.

[wildweasel]

This thread title should be changed and the OP edited accordingly, as Zenimax isn't exactly Cease and Desisting DoomRL... yet. It's only a trademark issue, as explained earlier. Someone who doesn't read past the OP might get the wrong idea.

I've made the correction to the title, at least.

[60dollartechdemo]

I guess I might've been stretching a little with The Evil Within/Resident Evil comparison - but I was thinking of the time when Zenimax tried to go against Mojang for making a collectible card game that was titled "Scrolls" (years before TES got it's own Hearthstone knock-off), so by that logic I don't really see why Capcom couldn't have sued them for making an action-horror game with the word "evil" in the title. Maybe it's because their legal team wasn't run by vultures.

In case it isn't obvious, I have very little respect for American copyright/trademark law. I also wonder if The Jupiter Hell Kickstarter managed to bring everything about DoomRL to Bethesda's attention.

[Graf Zahl]

I also wonder if The Jupiter Hell Kickstarter managed to bring everything about DoomRL to Bethesda's attention.

That may well be. Where I cannot really believe that Zenimax did not actually know about it - but the moment they officially know about it, they are forced to act.
About "Evil" vs. Horror, may I cite 'The Evil Dead', which would pretty much render any claim by "Resident Evil" over the word "Evil" moot. That's a clear-cut case of prior art, preventing any chance of trademarking it.

[NeuralStunner]

"Resident Eval"

A Ken Silverman title?

Speaking of Corrections: Bethesda is not doing this. Their parent company, Zenimax, is making the complaint.

[4thcharacter]

I'm actually having some thoughts of archiving the wiki if anything goes wrong and the whole site gets taken down but as of now I don't know where to start. Maybe I'll start with the weapons, armor, assemblies and monsters.

[Gez]

ZDoom.org is more at risk of getting taken down by Randi losing interest and moving on to something else than by lawyerly intervention.

DoomRL is fine too, as long as its owners to a few common-sense adjustments.

[Xeriphas1994]

I'm actually having some thoughts of archiving the wiki if anything goes wrong and the whole site gets taken down but as of now I don't know where to start. Maybe I'll start with the weapons, armor, assemblies and monsters.

You can archive the entire wiki automatically with this. (No programming knowledge is required -- take my word for it )

Distributed backups of community sites are a good idea anyway, lawyers being only one of many things that can go wrong.

[4thcharacter]

DoomRL is fine too, as long as its owners to a few common-sense adjustments.

I'm actually worried about the site owner misinterpreting the letter, putting up a fight or doing nothing, thus enabling the chances of the site being taken down. Any news on him on what he'll do? From the author's Twitter it looks like he doesn't know what to do.

[Rachael]

The best thing to do is exactly what Gez said in an earlier post. If that's not enough, these letters usually have a point of contact (yes, it's scary contacting a legal team that's against you, but it is a required first step in the initial negotiation), and simply ask them to elaborate specifics for what is needed to enable compliance.

The way for the authors of that fangame to resolve the dispute and cover their ass is basically to simply put some disclaimer boilerplate on their site footers, you know something like "Doom is a registered trademark of ZeniMax LLC. This site and the DoomRL game are not endorsed by nor affiliated with ZeniMax, id Software, Bethesda Software, or any other of their subsidiaries."

[Graf Zahl]

I'm actually having some thoughts of archiving the wiki if anything goes wrong and the whole site gets taken down but as of now I don't know where to start. Maybe I'll start with the weapons, armor, assemblies and monsters.

For god's sake!

What is is with people like you throwing all common sense out of the window when something happens you do not fully understand. Instead of going into panic mode better read up on the subject matter first.
Gez is right, the biggest threat to ZDoom.org is Randi quitting and not handing over the database to someone who does still care. And to be honest, that isn't even so farfetched as some may think.

[NeuralStunner]

It seems to me like he means the DoomRL wiki?

[Tapwave]

Gez is right, the biggest threat to ZDoom.org is Randi quitting and not handing over the database to someone who does still care. And to be honest, that isn't even so farfetched as some may think.

Out of curiosity, how would you, Blzut, Eruanna et al. would proceed if that were to happen?

[4thcharacter]

I'm actually having some thoughts of archiving the wiki if anything goes wrong and the whole site gets taken down but as of now I don't know where to start. Maybe I'll start with the weapons, armor, assemblies and monsters.

For god's sake!

What is is with people like you throwing all common sense out of the window when something happens you do not fully understand. Instead of going into panic mode better read up on the subject matter first.
Gez is right, the biggest threat to ZDoom.org is Randi quitting and not handing over the database to someone who does still care. And to be honest, that isn't even so farfetched as some may think.

I did read about what's going on. The email from Zenimax said that it wants to remove anything that associates Doom from the website or else it would be taken down. The author either doesn't know what to do (according to the tweet and it's replies, this could be likely the case) and surrenders or fights it and loses, shutting down the website in the process since they can't comply with what's in the email. As for the game, I'm not really worried that much and I've gotten myself a copy. If there's anything I missed, please tell.

The website also houses DoomRL's wiki, in case you didn't know, and is large enough to be a guide.

[Graf Zahl]

Gez is right, the biggest threat to ZDoom.org is Randi quitting and not handing over the database to someone who does still care. And to be honest, that isn't even so farfetched as some may think.

Out of curiosity, how would you, Blzut, Eruanna et al. would proceed if that were to happen?

That would very much depend on how much we'd be able to salvage. And of course on whether we'd be able to find someone who can make sense of the software renderer and is willing to work on that code.