Bethesda-Interplay lawsuit details

Per

Per

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Ausir sums up the affair on The Vault:<blockquote>New details have surfaced about Bethesda's lawsuit against Interplay over trademark infringement. Or lawsuits, because, as you can see in the court filings, there are two of them.

The first one, as we described in the previous newspost, is over the rights to Fallout Online (codenamed Project V13). The second one, however, is over Interplay's re-releases of original Fallout games, like the Fallout Trilogy pack or various digital distribution sites.

Turns out that, while Interplay was permitted to sell Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics the contract required all advertising, packaging and other promotional material to be sent to Bethesda for approval first, which, according to the lawsuit, was never done regarding neither the Fallout Trilogy pack, nor any of the releases through Good Old Games, Steam and other digital distribution platforms. Bethesda also claims that the name Trilogy constitutes unfair competition, since it suggests that the pack includes Fallout 3.</blockquote>Link: Court filings
 
Per said:
Bethesda also claims that the name Trilogy constitutes unfair competition, since it suggests that the pack includes Fallout 3.
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I suppose it could be misleading for a newcomer, but who could have missed this whole "it's nawt fallowt!!1!" debacle?

Why didn't Interplay send the boxes to Beth? It could have saved them all this trouble.
 
I talked to an insider, and it looks like Bethesda never intended to approve anything Interplay would send to them.
 
It's pretty funny since Fallout Trilogy has been in stores before Fallout 3 was even created.
 
DRAMA

Beth have really screwed Interplay (and Fallout) over this. But Interplay agreed to it all so they only have themselves to blame.
 
Per said:
Turns out that, while Interplay was permitted to sell Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics the contract required all advertising, packaging and other promotional material to be sent to Bethesda for approval first, which, according to the lawsuit, was never done regarding neither the Fallout Trilogy pack, nor any of the releases through Good Old Games, Steam and other digital distribution platforms. Bethesda also claims that the name Trilogy constitutes unfair competition, since it suggests that the pack includes Fallout 3.
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Herve is still a slimeball, no surprises there. I'm frankly surprised that Bethesda were able to stomach dealing with the lying fuck for as long as they did. If they manage to bankrupt Interplay and put an end to Herve's malign presence in the game industry once and for all, it will be the first worthwhile thing they've done in years.

I recall that on December 8th 2003 - a date that lives in infamy for every true Fallout fan - I made a post on the old Interplay forums where I vowed Interplay would one day be destroyed and its executives applying for entry-level positions at their local McDonald's. Now I get all giddy as I fantasize about Bethesda's elite team of armored cyber-lawyers plowing through Herve and whatever pathetic legal defense he can muster. His lies and backstabbing will fatally fail him for once, and it will be a glorious day - the day when the good men and women of defunct Black Isle Studios will be vindicated at last.
 
I hope that when Herve's Interplay-in-name-only dies, Brian Fargo will buy back the name "Interplay" and return from his exile. And that Chris Taylor will join the Wasteland 2 team, while we're at it.

Fargo actually seems like the kind of guy who would do this out of sentiment. And it would also make sense in terms of brand recognition.

I recall that on December 8th 2003 - a date that lives in infamy for every true Fallout fan - I made a post on the old Interplay forums where I vowed Interplay would one day be destroyed and its executives applying for entry-level positions at their local McDonald's. Now I get all giddy as I fantasize about Bethesda's elite team of armored cyber-lawyers plowing through Herve and whatever pathetic legal defense he can muster. His lies and backstabbing will fatally fail him for once, and it will be a glorious day - the day when the good men and women of defunct Black Isle Studios will be vindicated at last.
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I don't care that much about the fate of Interplay, but I do care about the availability of the original Fallouts. Which might end up not being available legally aside from used copies.
 
Ausir said:
I recall that on December 8th 2003 - a date that lives in infamy for every true Fallout fan - I made a post on the old Interplay forums where I vowed Interplay would one day be destroyed and its executives applying for entry-level positions at their local McDonald's. Now I get all giddy as I fantasize about Bethesda's elite team of armored cyber-lawyers plowing through Herve and whatever pathetic legal defense he can muster. His lies and backstabbing will fatally fail him for once, and it will be a glorious day - the day when the good men and women of defunct Black Isle Studios will be vindicated at last.
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:rofl: Brian is my hero, if only we could have him replace Howard regarding future Fallout titles.
 
Syraxith said:
:rofl: Brian is my hero, if only we could have him replace Howard regarding future Fallout titles.
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Hey, I wrote that, not Fargo.

And Fargo is not exactly a saint, y'know. For starters, he wanted to cancel Fallout while it was still in development. Moreover, Herve would never had gotten his grubby French paws on Interplay if Fargo had not nearly run it into the ground with his mismanagement. Still, unlike Herve, Fargo is an ex-developer who worked on a number of great releases and understands games and gaming culture.
 
So Bethesda wants to keep Fallout and Fallout 2 off the store shelves?

I really didn't think I could ever truly *hate* a company, but with Bethesda, I'm really starting to.
 
I wonder what the Bethesda-approved packaging for the old games would have looked like. I think the top things they would want to add would be screenshots depicting:

Dreadful Dialogue
Drinkable Toilets
Dysfunctional Aimed Shots Mode

"That would really help show we've built sequels with canonical continuity!"

Idea: art contest...
 
Over the past three or four years Bethesda has turned from a company that I really enjoyed supporting (Daggerfall & Morrowind) to a company that I simply cannot stand (Oblivion and Fallout 3).

This just cements my loathing of that company, and they will never see another dime from my wallet.

All this time Todd was claiming that he was a "fan" of the original Fallouts, etc, etc, and with this going on (basically trying to kill the original franchise) it really shows what a bunch of liars Bethsoft is.
 
And Fargo is not exactly a saint, y'know. For starters, he wanted to cancel Fallout while it was still in development.
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But he didn't, eventually. :)

Moreover, Herve would never had gotten his grubby French paws on Interplay if Fargo had not nearly run it into the ground with his mismanagement.
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Sure, although Fargo's mismanagement was nothing compared to Herve's.

Still, unlike Herve, Fargo is an ex-developer who worked on a number of great releases and understands games and gaming culture.
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Indeed. Say what you want about Fargo, at least his Interplay was "by gamers, for gamers".
 
Ausir said:
I hope that when Herve's Interplay-in-name-only dies, Brian Fargo will buy back the name "Interplay" and return from his exile. And that Chris Taylor will join the Wasteland 2 team, while we're at it.
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Throw in ending world hunger by making the best RPG evar, by the way. Chances for both are pretty similar.
 
How so? Once Herve's IPLY collapses, I don't think Fargo buying the name out of sentiment would be out of the question. He seems to me like the kind of guy who would do that.

And Taylor joining Anderson at inXile once IPLY collapses would be a pretty natural decision. In fact, I wonder why he hasn't done it already.
 
Ausir said:
I talked to an insider, and it looks like Bethesda never intended to approve anything Interplay would send to them.
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Well that's not surprising. This deal always seemed odd to me.
 
The real question is,
Did Beth pony up the 6 million to keep Herve from going under in 07, knowing he'd fail at some clause in their agreement, and they could have all of Fallout for that small sum (gamewize speaking).

Or, were they stupid morons and thought that crooked frog wouldn't screw them they way he's screwed everybody else in buisness.

He's like the french ghetto version Willy Banks from Ocean's 13.
 
You know it sounds to me, that who ever pulls Beths strings, is upset they missed all the cash while Triple Pack was in top 10 most sold.
And ouch Scorpius that's a lot of bitterness.
 
Well, that's the only *real* Fallout Trilogy that I know of, unless you count Van Burn.

But I still never consider "Fallout" 3 part of the canon or anything. It's horrid.
 
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