TheWesDude said:
That's probably what the cross-complaint was about, but it kind of depends on the licensing rights GCG had. Like I said, if the new deal nullified the former deal with GCG then that's breach of contract, but it's not impossible.
GCG taking Interplay to court
- Thread starter Brother None
- Start date
That's probably what the cross-complaint was about, but it kind of depends on the licensing rights GCG had. Like I said, if the new deal nullified the former deal with GCG then that's breach of contract, but it's not impossible.
Bernard Bumner
Still Mildly Glowing
Ah, fair enough. Although that does represent a massive improvement on their darkest days - if the trend continues...
Yea, but when they're filing lawsuits, which will suck up their capital, unless they've got a lawyer working for them pro bono.
Bernard Bumner
Still Mildly Glowing
Pope Viper said:
I assumed that Herve did all his own legal work - I'm thinking My Cousin Vinny, but without the glorious ending, and possibly tackier clothes...
Then they would really be screwed.
I hate to tell you this but Premeption Rights clauses and ROFR clauses while not universal are fairly standard with licencing and publishing almost any IP, the base idea is Company B is buying the right to use a licenced property for a project from company/party/person A their for "B" has a legal interest in what else "A" does with said property. Heck I would not be surprised if most games currently in development have PRC/ROFR/Forfeture clauses writen specificaly to block Uwe Boll from making a movie based on that game.Brother None said:
Texas Renegade
Look, Ma! Two Heads!
The issue is not with GCG buying rights after Beth did. The problem is that when Interplay sold the whole IP to Beth they basically failed to disclose the fact that they had already sold the rights to a pen and paper version to GCG.
This represents a breach of contract on the part of Interplay with Bethesda, thereby nullifying the prior agreement with GCG. Which therefore represents a breach of contract on the part of Interplay to protect the interests of GCG in relation to the PNP game they were developing.
The reason the lawsuit against Beth was thrown out, was do to the fact that there was no wrong doing on the part of Beth, but a failure of Interplay to initiate full disclosure during the selling of the IP and the failure of Interplay to protect the contractual rights of CGC. Basically, they sold the right to a PNP game to Beth when they had contractually already sold it to another party.
Basically knowing Interplay, it sounds like they were either dumb and failed to be thorough in their negotiations, or they tried to pull a fast one on one or both of the other parties involved.
This represents a breach of contract on the part of Interplay with Bethesda, thereby nullifying the prior agreement with GCG. Which therefore represents a breach of contract on the part of Interplay to protect the interests of GCG in relation to the PNP game they were developing.
The reason the lawsuit against Beth was thrown out, was do to the fact that there was no wrong doing on the part of Beth, but a failure of Interplay to initiate full disclosure during the selling of the IP and the failure of Interplay to protect the contractual rights of CGC. Basically, they sold the right to a PNP game to Beth when they had contractually already sold it to another party.
Basically knowing Interplay, it sounds like they were either dumb and failed to be thorough in their negotiations, or they tried to pull a fast one on one or both of the other parties involved.
Oakraven said:
Interplay has no such clause over Bethesda, and vice versa Bethesda had no such clause over Interplay. It's not as standard as you think, and heavily depends on the circumstances of the licensing - for instance, BIS/BioWare worked with the D&D license but never had any right to interfere in what happened with the license at large. Interplay had the Planescape license but as far as I know wasn't even involved in the Torment novel.
TR said:
That's what I said. But you're assuming on the lack of full disclosure, we don't know the details there.
Couldn't they "fix" the situation with a contract annex?
If Interplay overlooked it they should have addressed it through annex with Bethesda and not via cross-complaint. This Herve guy never thinks twice about what he's doing.
Leave Interplay alone!
If Interplay overlooked it they should have addressed it through annex with Bethesda and not via cross-complaint. This Herve guy never thinks twice about what he's doing.
Mrxknown said:Confalone said:Interplay can't catch a break huh?
Unfortunately
Leave Interplay alone!
Texas Renegade
Look, Ma! Two Heads!
Yeah brother none, sorry was typing it at the same time ya'll were posting:
Yes, it is assumption, I have no actual knowledge of the case except for what has been posted and linked on this thread, however it is the only real reason I can arrive at for the cross complaint to have been so easy to dismiss.
If Interplay had fully disclosed to Beth, then there would have been no way for Beth to buy the rights to the PNP part, and would therefore have no claim on CGC's ability to make a PNP game.
Again, purely from conjecture, it sounds like Interplay either intentionally or through laziness, sold the PNP rights twice and since Beth gained rights to the entire IP it is within there power to prevent another group from using the IP, especially since they received no value for the sale of the IP, since it was aparently CGC getting to make a PNP game was not negotiated into the sell of the IP
Again--this is pure conjecture.
And yes a contract annex would have been the easiest way to do it, except then interplay would have had to recompense Beth for the perceived value of the PNP from what Beth paid for the IP, which it would appear, interplay has no fiscal ability to do so.
Yes, it is assumption, I have no actual knowledge of the case except for what has been posted and linked on this thread, however it is the only real reason I can arrive at for the cross complaint to have been so easy to dismiss.
If Interplay had fully disclosed to Beth, then there would have been no way for Beth to buy the rights to the PNP part, and would therefore have no claim on CGC's ability to make a PNP game.
Again, purely from conjecture, it sounds like Interplay either intentionally or through laziness, sold the PNP rights twice and since Beth gained rights to the entire IP it is within there power to prevent another group from using the IP, especially since they received no value for the sale of the IP, since it was aparently CGC getting to make a PNP game was not negotiated into the sell of the IP
Again--this is pure conjecture.
And yes a contract annex would have been the easiest way to do it, except then interplay would have had to recompense Beth for the perceived value of the PNP from what Beth paid for the IP, which it would appear, interplay has no fiscal ability to do so.
Matt K said:
Ahh, but there is a clause in the current Beth contract that Heve has to behave. I think the actual wording is "uphold the standard of Bethesda". This lawsuit only brings unwanted negative attention to Herve, and further hurts his chances of reaching the funding level Bethesday is requiring before yanking the franchise for FOOL away from him. This all goes to what I've been saying. Despite the thinking of a very select few of die-hard investors, Herve is no businessman. He's actually quite inept at most tasks and is better suited to turning wine bottles in a winery.
Bernard Bumner said:
I don't think Herve even goes that far. Unless he's changed from 2004, he just does what he thinks. If it blows up, well, thats not his fault -- he doesn't make mistakes.
Heh. You're like the boogey man, Corith. If I look in the mirror and say Interplay three times, you'll appear.
No kidding, he's like Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetleju...
My gripe with the whole sorry affair is that yes, it's all business, but why do people constantly use the word business as an excuse for people to be complete and utter assholes? Why do people instantly lose any form of sympathy, respect or remorse as soon as they go into business mode?
Bethesda surely can afford to give a helping hand to a company it clearly has (or should have) respect for, or at the very least not screw them over.
Of course i know the answer to these questions myself and am just being a completely naive idealist that cries every time he thinks about Interplay dying. The fact is, if you think like me, you end up going down Interplay's sorry route, fast. My god i miss good games.
I just bought a new pc maybe a month ago that can play pretty much anything at full graphics after being unable to play new games since Total Annihilation came out. After playing new games for just a few weeks i am already going back to games more than ten years old, some more twenty years old. Sad state of affairs is it not?
Bethesda surely can afford to give a helping hand to a company it clearly has (or should have) respect for, or at the very least not screw them over.
Of course i know the answer to these questions myself and am just being a completely naive idealist that cries every time he thinks about Interplay dying. The fact is, if you think like me, you end up going down Interplay's sorry route, fast. My god i miss good games.
I just bought a new pc maybe a month ago that can play pretty much anything at full graphics after being unable to play new games since Total Annihilation came out. After playing new games for just a few weeks i am already going back to games more than ten years old, some more twenty years old. Sad state of affairs is it not?
Texas Renegade
Look, Ma! Two Heads!
????
The Interplay you new and loved died a long time ago. Why does Beth owe Interplay any sympathy or respect?
They have repeatedly shot themselves in the foot multiple times through their own laziness and stupidity. This has nothing to do with business, this has everything to do with them being inept and corrupt business people who repeatedly have failed to live up to their contractual obligations.
I would pity and respect Black Isle or Troika--Interplay should have been put down 5 years ago.
The Interplay you new and loved died a long time ago. Why does Beth owe Interplay any sympathy or respect?
They have repeatedly shot themselves in the foot multiple times through their own laziness and stupidity. This has nothing to do with business, this has everything to do with them being inept and corrupt business people who repeatedly have failed to live up to their contractual obligations.
I would pity and respect Black Isle or Troika--Interplay should have been put down 5 years ago.
Jamoid said:
Read the contract between Herve and Beth. Its pretty clear their intent. They are exploiting Herve's arrogance and lack of business knowledge. They bought the whole thing for 6 million and allowed Herve to license back his own franchise to create FO:OL. But, the contract has so many clauses of what Herve must do. He has to pay off his lawsuits, not create any more, raise a bucket load of cash, allow for random audits of his records, produce a certain amount of revenue in a certain amount of time, etc.
By doing nothing to help Herve, he fails, and they get their property back.
In essence, they bought the rights to all of fallout, including the MMO rights, for a mere 6 million. Back in March 04, Herve was turning away triple that. When I forced him to the brink of involuntary bankruptcy, he had to take the first deal to come along, or he'd never be able to prove he wasn't the bozo we all know him to be. Bethesda played him like the fool his is.
Wait, so it's your fault Bethesda owns Fallout?
Thanks a lot, Corith.
Thanks a lot, Corith.
Stole my answer, Ausir.
So wait... you personally forced Herve to file bankruptcy for Interplay, thereby making it so he had little choice but to accept Beth's offer? And there were previous offers made by other developers/publishers? Am I getting this straight?Corith said: