BuRn7 CaK3
04-21-2009, 11:00 PM
Last week, Genius Products announced that it was suing Activision and 7 Studios for allegedly conspiring to delay or prevent the release of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ to put Activision's own DJ Hero in a better position when it releases.
This week, a judge has ruled in favor of Genius Products and their joint venture with Numark, Scratch DJ Game LLC. Here's the explanation from the press release issues by Scratch DJ Game LLC (important sections have been bolded):
On Wednesday, April 15, 2009, as requested by Scratch DJ Game LLC, the Court ordered 7 Studios, which was recently acquired by Activision, to turn over to Scratch DJ Game LLC within five days all source code related to Scratch: The Ultimate DJ game, including 7 Studio’s pre-existing developer software tools and technology that went into developing the game. Despite arguments from Activision’s counsel, the Court clearly concluded that the source code was the property of Scratch DJ Game LLC. The Court also granted an injunction preventing 7 Studios from disclosing or discussing the game code or Scratch trade secrets with Activision or any other third party. This decision by the Court is a setback for Activision which only acquired 7 Studios after Genius rejected Activision’s offers to buy the Scratch game. Activision is now “walled off” by the Court’s order from discussing Scratch or its game code or confidential information with its own subsidiary, -- which had previously worked on Scratch for 18 months as a contract work-for-hire developer.
This is a major victory for Scratch and will hopefully mean that the game can be completed and released. It is unclear at this point, however, if Daniel Lehrich is still working on the project as he is an employee of 7 Studios. Daniel is/was the Creative Lead on the game and I got the impression from the demo he gave that Scratch was something of a passion project for him.
The are rumors that Bottlerocket Entertainment has been brought in to finish the game, but this remains unconfirmed. Bottlerocket was recently working on Splatterhouse for Namco Bandai.
Source: G4-The Feed (http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/694911/Court-Rules-In-Favor-Of-Scratch-Game-Activision-Ordered-To-Return-Assets.html)
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I Seriously find this funny.
This week, a judge has ruled in favor of Genius Products and their joint venture with Numark, Scratch DJ Game LLC. Here's the explanation from the press release issues by Scratch DJ Game LLC (important sections have been bolded):
On Wednesday, April 15, 2009, as requested by Scratch DJ Game LLC, the Court ordered 7 Studios, which was recently acquired by Activision, to turn over to Scratch DJ Game LLC within five days all source code related to Scratch: The Ultimate DJ game, including 7 Studio’s pre-existing developer software tools and technology that went into developing the game. Despite arguments from Activision’s counsel, the Court clearly concluded that the source code was the property of Scratch DJ Game LLC. The Court also granted an injunction preventing 7 Studios from disclosing or discussing the game code or Scratch trade secrets with Activision or any other third party. This decision by the Court is a setback for Activision which only acquired 7 Studios after Genius rejected Activision’s offers to buy the Scratch game. Activision is now “walled off” by the Court’s order from discussing Scratch or its game code or confidential information with its own subsidiary, -- which had previously worked on Scratch for 18 months as a contract work-for-hire developer.
This is a major victory for Scratch and will hopefully mean that the game can be completed and released. It is unclear at this point, however, if Daniel Lehrich is still working on the project as he is an employee of 7 Studios. Daniel is/was the Creative Lead on the game and I got the impression from the demo he gave that Scratch was something of a passion project for him.
The are rumors that Bottlerocket Entertainment has been brought in to finish the game, but this remains unconfirmed. Bottlerocket was recently working on Splatterhouse for Namco Bandai.
Source: G4-The Feed (http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/694911/Court-Rules-In-Favor-Of-Scratch-Game-Activision-Ordered-To-Return-Assets.html)
__________________________________
I Seriously find this funny.
