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Fallout SeriesBethesda Sues Interplay Over Use Of Fallout License(79 posts)(79 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted September 12, 2009
From what I can tell, this has nothing to do with Interplay selling Fallout 1/2/tactics. It seems that Bethesda has become frustrated with the lack of progress on the Fallout MMO which they were going to get part of the profits from and decided that a Fallout MMO would be better off in their hands.
They appear to be using the selling of the original trilogy as just the means to get control over the MMO rights, obviously this has little to do with any money gained from the sale of the older games, a Fallout MMO would almost certainly be hugely popular and I suppose the 12% that they initially agreed to is not sufficient anymore.
I back up all the games that I buy from GOG, but regardless I hope that this legal dispute does not end up removing the games from this distribution service. In order for people to have faith in a system in which they have no physical copy, they need to be confident in the fact that their games wont disappear from their accounts due to the whims of legal debacles. Regardless of what Bethesda wants, I've paid for Fallout 1 and 2 and my rights as a customer should be protected.
Post edited September 12, 2009 by RitterZero
Posted September 12, 2009
high rated
As is usual with a Fallout thread, there is a lot of anger towards Bethesda.
What a lot of people aren't noticing, though, willfully or otherwise, is that Interplay is in breach of contract over this issue. This isn't Bethesda being the big, evil, greedy company many of you are making them out to be. This is Interplay shooting themselves in the foot, and Bethesda taking them to court for completely valid and legitimate reasons.
If two parties make an agreement, and one of them violates that agreement, the other one will file suit. Same thing with any other company. In this case, Interplay sold the Fallout rights to Bethesda, and agreed to the stipulations that they would get $30 million in funding to work on it, and have it well underway in a certain timespan. They also agreed to get permission from Bethesda before selling F1, F2, and FT.
Interplay violated the MMORPG agreement, and they violated their agreement on selling the older games.
All of this is listed, in detail, in the article linked in the first post. I would suggest people read it before jumping on the "FUCK BETHESDA" bandwagon.
And folks, if you downloaded the game, I'm pretty sure you're going to keep it.
Here a GameSpot article on the issue:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6217290.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;1
Post edited September 12, 2009 by Uwe
Posted September 12, 2009
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igor8472: Damn Bethesda. Didn't they earn enough cash on FO3 & DLC's so now they wan't everything.

They're not suing for any money, but the rights of the Fallout Franchise completely.
Posted September 13, 2009
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igor8472: Damn Bethesda. Didn't they earn enough cash on FO3 & DLC's so now they wan't everything.
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Thegreatbobo: They're not suing for any money, but the rights of the Fallout Franchise completely.

They already HAVE full rights to the Fallout franchise. Distribution of the back catalog was just a licensing agreement, similar to the arrangement Interplay made with Vivendi regarding Redneck Rampage. The only difference is that Bethesda wanted to have prior approval of any marketing materials, and presumably a cut out of Interplay's deals with companies like GOG. Sucks for us all, but the blame here goes to Interplay.
Posted September 13, 2009
That what now I afraid most. Possible another license problem on GOG like recent one with Codemasters...
Posted September 13, 2009
low rated
Boycott Bethesda, enough said. Fuck those shitty game-making faggots. Fallout 3 was a disgrace and TES games lick balls as well. I will never purchase another Bethesda product after this, I suggest anyone who enjoys quality games do the same
Posted September 13, 2009
While not liking Bethesda, i'm not sure who is wrong here (in my opinion ip shouldn't be sold).
The question is: will we see Fallout games removed from GoG like other games in the past?
Posted September 13, 2009
a quote from another forum...
[quote="Epsilon"]
Bethesda also accused Interplay of breaching the trademark agreement by signing licensing agreements with digital distribution sites like Steam, GOG.com, and GameTap to sell older Fallout games. The company claimed Interplay's alleged actions have caused the studio "immediate, substantial, and irreparable harm."

Source
Here let me just translate that for you.
"The digital resale of the old games, interfere with our possible revenue stream, so we will move to have them removed as soon as possible."
This is what will happen. And that is just being an ass about it. Interplay do have the right to distribute the old games, that has nothing to do with how it's being branded in retail ie box layout.
I went through the legal documents pertaining to the transfer of the IP, so I know I'm right in this.
Bethesda owns the right to all future made Fallout products, and everybody who wants to produce something based on that have to license from Bethesda.
Can't get anymore crystal clear than this.

Bethesda accused Interplay of trademark infringement, two counts of breach of contract, and unfair competition. Bethesda is asking for injunctions against Interplay's manufacture, sale, and distribution of back catalog Fallout games, that a judge declare the trademark licensing agreement terminated, and that Interplay pay for damages and legal fees.
No more old Fallouts, just new Fallout 3 and upwards.
So again, hell with bethesda. Nothing more than a move to be like EA where they want to gobble up anything and everything that was once good then ruin all they touch.
Post edited September 13, 2009 by Spykez0129
Posted September 14, 2009
Oddly enough I actually found GoG.com because of Fallout (DRM-Free, which is a BIG issue to me), After trying desperately to get game tap to work on an x64 based system, and I foolishly never did get around to purchasing the Fallout games due to the large amount of other cool games that seemed to beckon to me from the catalogue. After all I was under the assumption that GoG was a permanent purchase avenue. Because most companies don't give a crap about old titles, and I figured they were happy just making some money from those of us who double-dip/ want to play stuff we missed the first time around.
By accident on a Google search for Bethesda New York, I find out that Bethesda Softworks has decided to sue Interplay for some non-sense or another. This apparently happened on Sept. 11, I find out three days later on the 14, and 25 minutes after that GOG.com has three extra purchases from me. The article on Gamasutra is quoted as follows:
"Bethesda is asking for injunctions against Interplay's manufacture, sale, and distribution of back catalog Fallout games, that a judge declare the trademark licensing agreement terminated, and that Interplay pay for damages and legal fees."
This to me means that they want Interplay to stop selling them altogether, through their site, GameTap, or GoG.com
Questions to GoG.com:
1. Does this mean that we will no longer have these titles?
2. IF YOU DO stop selling them will those of us lucky enough to have purchased, before Bitchthesda decided to be anal, still be able to download said copies like other titles?
3. If the answer to question 2 is yes, will there still be support and communities as well?
To Bethesda Fan-Boys:
Bethesda may have been in their legal right to do such a thing, I understand that, but it's actions still sound awful, and laced with peril to me the average consumer. Their whole attitude and DRM is what kept me from the somewhat bastardized F3 to begin with. They did purchase the rights fair and square, and it's theirs to do with as they please, but I still reserve the right to think that they really screwed over a nice franchise, and possibly me in the process. Stupid Interplay (for selling rights).
edited for misspelled words :) sorry I'm a little peeved :P
Post edited September 14, 2009 by GordanShumway
Posted September 14, 2009
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rockydil: Either way, get 'em while you can.

My thoughts exactly!
Posted September 14, 2009
Thing is, all these people backing up bethesda are the same type of people that backed up EA and UBIsoft, and look what those two companies did, they gobbled up anything that was once good and totally obliterated them.
Bethesda knows how to do only 1 thing, make games like morrowind > oblivion > and now fallout.
They are all..exactly...the same freakin thing, just different story different theme....same boring as hell gameplay.
They know their fallout IP will be plagued by the awesome the old games are and now they will do what they can to make sure when people talk about fallout, it will be from what bethesda has made.
Call me a cry baby, idiot, fanboy, whatever, but too many times I've seen these big companies wanting to make a name for themselves and the bigger they get, the more money they want, the more greed and the more they bully.
I'll be the one laughing when Bethesda is the new EA....oh wait...they already are
Post edited September 14, 2009 by Spykez0129
Posted September 14, 2009
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Uwe: As is usual with a Fallout thread, there is a lot of anger towards Bethesda.
What a lot of people aren't noticing, though, willfully or otherwise, is that Interplay is in breach of contract over this issue. This isn't Bethesda being the big, evil, greedy company many of you are making them out to be. This is Interplay shooting themselves in the foot, and Bethesda taking them to court for completely valid and legitimate reasons.
If two parties make an agreement, and one of them violates that agreement, the other one will file suit. Same thing with any other company. In this case, Interplay sold the Fallout rights to Bethesda, and agreed to the stipulations that they would get $30 million in funding to work on it, and have it well underway in a certain timespan. They also agreed to get permission from Bethesda before selling F1, F2, and FT.
Interplay violated the MMORPG agreement, and they violated their agreement on selling the older games.
All of this is listed, in detail, in the article linked in the first post. I would suggest people read it before jumping on the "FUCK BETHESDA" bandwagon.
And folks, if you downloaded the game, I'm pretty sure you're going to keep it.
Here a GameSpot article on the issue:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6217290.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;1

Finally, someone who has actually done some research on the subject for once instead of copying and pasting sentiments like, "Damn you Betheseda" into every single post. Interplay broke their contract with Betheseda willingly and are now reaping the consequences of it!
Posted September 14, 2009
First of all, let me be clear -- I'm not a fan of (recent) Bethesda. Couldn't get interested in FO3 at all.
Secondly, let's also be clear that the Interplay being sued no longer retains ANY of the people who made Fallout. Those people left probably a decade ago, and now mostly reside at inXile productions. So even _IF_ Bethesda is shafting Interplay, they're not shafting the authors of the games we loved -- they're shafting the greedy thieving cheap*** people who bought out Interplay, then sold off the rights, then tried to keep making money from products they no longer sold. If I sell my house and then try to rent it out, I think the new owners have legitimate reason to complain.
Third, legal issues resolve around precedent. Bethesda _MUST_ enforce their rights in these contracts, even if they don't actually care, or else they surrender those rights (and possibly others, by reputation, even if not legally).
Third, I think Bethesda has a point on the "confusing the market about the Fallout name" front. Interplay is selling a box called "Fallout Trilogy". Now, even I, who know about these games, first thought "Wow, I'm surprised they worked something out to sell Fallout 1, 2, and 3 together in one box". Of course, I then read the box and saw that it was Tactics, not 3 that was included. But the word Trilogy strongly implies that "episode 3" is included, and is deliberately misleading. Had Interplay had honest intentions of simply selling back catalog (as opposed to trying to ride some of whatever hype/marketing FO3 had), a simple and much more accurate name of "Classic Fallout" or "Fallout Classics" would have been better.
Lastly, regarding the MMO, that was just plain stupid on Interplay's part. Never, ever, ever sign a CONTRACT stating that you will raise X dollars in funding within Y years. Especially when X=30 million and Y=2, and you have NO experience with MMOs to attract backers.
Personally, I wish something could happen with Fallout like happened with Tex Murphy -- Interplay disappear from the world, and inXile and/or Brian Fargo regain distribution rights to the classic games. Highly unlikely, but in a perfect world, that would be the "right" thing.
Posted September 14, 2009
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MacReiter: First of all, let me be clear -- I'm not a fan of (recent) Bethesda. Couldn't get interested in FO3 at all.
Secondly, let's also be clear that the Interplay being sued no longer retains ANY of the people who made Fallout. Those people left probably a decade ago, and now mostly reside at inXile productions. So even _IF_ Bethesda is shafting Interplay, they're not shafting the authors of the games we loved -- they're shafting the greedy thieving cheap*** people who bought out Interplay, then sold off the rights, then tried to keep making money from products they no longer sold. If I sell my house and then try to rent it out, I think the new owners have legitimate reason to complain.
Third, legal issues resolve around precedent. Bethesda _MUST_ enforce their rights in these contracts, even if they don't actually care, or else they surrender those rights (and possibly others, by reputation, even if not legally).
Third, I think Bethesda has a point on the "confusing the market about the Fallout name" front. Interplay is selling a box called "Fallout Trilogy". Now, even I, who know about these games, first thought "Wow, I'm surprised they worked something out to sell Fallout 1, 2, and 3 together in one box". Of course, I then read the box and saw that it was Tactics, not 3 that was included. But the word Trilogy strongly implies that "episode 3" is included, and is deliberately misleading. Had Interplay had honest intentions of simply selling back catalog (as opposed to trying to ride some of whatever hype/marketing FO3 had), a simple and much more accurate name of "Classic Fallout" or "Fallout Classics" would have been better.
Lastly, regarding the MMO, that was just plain stupid on Interplay's part. Never, ever, ever sign a CONTRACT stating that you will raise X dollars in funding within Y years. Especially when X=30 million and Y=2, and you have NO experience with MMOs to attract backers.
Personally, I wish something could happen with Fallout like happened with Tex Murphy -- Interplay disappear from the world, and inXile and/or Brian Fargo regain distribution rights to the classic games. Highly unlikely, but in a perfect world, that would be the "right" thing.

As true as that is, and it's very true, here's hoping Bethesda goes the classy route and still allows the classic Fallouts to be sold but under THEIR name.
If not though, well we should be getting enough notice before the games are pulled off the catalogue.
Post edited September 14, 2009 by ChaosBahamut
Posted September 15, 2009
I saw this one coming months ago, when the Fallout MMO deadline was missed. Now do I agree with it: Yes as it is a contract violation and this is the US, we sue for any and all reasons. But I also know the Interplay has almost no money or assets right now outside of IPs, so I'm smelling a hostile takeover here. Will this be the end of Fallout? No Bethesda got it as it fits into the open world games they have been doing since Elder Scrolls 1, and they made Fallout 3 the way it was as Brotherhood of Steel was utter shit. And even if you don't like what they did with it; it has proven to be a commercial, and critical success. (Look at its meta critic and gamefaq reviews) If we're lucky we may get the classics under Bethesda's banner then Interplay, and hell it makes sence to keep selling what is already selling
Now as for those who already own Fallout 1& 2 from gog, I say download the installer again and burn it to a cd, like I do with all the games I get from here. I do this to guard against such industry disputes.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
Fallout SeriesBethesda Sues Interplay Over Use Of Fallout License(79 posts)(79 posts)
(79 posts)