The Daily Journal quoted Manatt’s Robert Jacobs, co-chair of the firm’s entertainment, media and sports litigation practice, in an article discussing an unfolding video game lawsuit. Game engine creator Crytek GmbH is suing Cloud Imperium Games Corp., the makers of the not-yet-released $150M “Star Citizen” video game, claiming the game makers repeatedly breached its licensing agreement and infringed its copyright.
The companies entered into a game licensing agreement that promised to use CryEngine’s game development platform exclusively and that Cloud Imperium would take several steps to ensure the plaintiff’s intellectual property was protected. The lawsuit alleges that Cloud Imperium improperly used Crytek’s engine to develop a stand-alone game and that it violated the intellectual property agreement by posting a series of videos highlighting glitches and bugs in the Crytek engine.
Crytek has requested a permanent injunction, banning Cloud Imperium from using the engine and delaying the game’s release even further. Jacobs told the publication that the plaintiffs will face an uphill battle when it comes to getting a permanent injunction, as most of the claims in the lawsuit relate to contract breach and not copyright infringement.
“[Given] the potential copyright infringement claim, if the evidence is strong enough, there could be an injunction,” said Jacobs. He also noted that while the plaintiff’s damage claim of more than $75,000 was likely included to address diversity jurisdiction requirements, it could be hard to tell exactly how much the case is worth.