Case dismissed! Discovery and Tardigrade game "not similar"

[Campe]

That's the idea if his lawyer instructed him not to communicate it. Here's their art exhibit.

There's at least 20 other documents submitted by them. The complaint is 13 pages long. You'd think they must have some kind of case if they feel it's worth paying a $400 filing fee.

So... um... you're saying that CBS can't cast characters of color? Or a homosexual couple who are of mixed race? And they can't have blue or white uniforms?

And they can't cast a redhead?!? Damn. That last one is going to hurt. I really like redheads.

 

[BillJ]

If I'm a juror, there's only two pieces of evidence above that would make me even question ruling against the guy: the dude floating around in white dots and the botanical garden. Though we would have to know the context of both within the game.

But that would be on the proving someone from CBS had access to the materials.

 

[Campe]

If I'm a juror, there's only two pieces of evidence above that would make me even question ruling against the guy: the dude floating around in white dots and the botanical garden. Though we would have to know the context of both within the game.

But that would be on the proving someone from CBS had access to the materials.

And the problem is, I think this guy has so much vengeance now about the whole thing because he's been fed by a lot of toxic fandom (Doomcock, for instance), that I don't trust him to be honest about anything. I mean, apparently he said that this was the most anticipated game of all time! By who?

 

[marsh8472]

For it to be anything more than coincidence, they have to prove someone from CBS had access to their materials. I'm not sure you can sue for the color white, or black female with short hair, that seems fairly generic.

He said he had the original work published on a forum between May 2014 and Feb 2015 where it had a quarter of a million views. Their web logs might show if someone from CBS looked at it. It's at least conceivable that some desperate writer thought that copying someone else's idea from a foreign country would go unnoticed.

 

[BillJ]

He said he had the original work published on a forum between May 2014 and Feb 2015 where it had a quarter of a million views. Their web logs might show if someone from CBS looked at it.

He said? He will need every bit of evidence he can find. 'He said' won't cut it.

He'll also have to prove that what we are seeing is what was available at the time to the general public, and that he hasn't manipulated anything.

 

[LJones41]

Straczynski actually pitched B5 to Paramount, but he and Warner Bros never sued over very similar things later appearing in DS9 because they knew how copyrights actually work.

Yes, I know.

 

[Campe]

He said he had the original work published on a forum between May 2014 and Feb 2015 where it had a quarter of a million views. Their web logs might show if someone from CBS looked at it. It's at least conceivable that some desperate writer thought that copying someone else's idea from a foreign country would go unnoticed.

• The Earth's population was 7.38 billion in 2015
• The number of Steam users in 2015 was over 125 million
• You suggest that there were 250,000 individuals who viewed this
• Let's say the number of people on the early development team of Disco was 100 people. That's probably being a bit generous but I'll give the benefit of the doubt here.

Based upon the numbers:

• 1.7% of the world's population was on Steam in 2015
• 0.2% of the population of Steam in 2015 saw this game

Those are some pretty minuscule odds that one of these hypothetical 100 people working on Disco saw this. Its not impossible, sure. Its just really highly unlikely.

 

[BillJ]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=344701010

This is the Steam page, where the game was greenlit. It is odd that the last update on the page was in November 2015.

EDIT: Caught my mistake. There was another game called 'Epoch' which I guess was the original name.

 

[Spot261]

Which it is. The court are asking for evidence that CBS accessed the property they allegedly infringed. The first part of the test to prove the infringement. I really don't see what this has to do with 'pockets'.

Your counter example is ridiculous. If this game had been on network TV for fifty years and be a common pop culture reference point, the court would be happy to accept that you were aware of it.

Well, "access" was clearly possible. He published enough of his work on a public website.
But proving WHEN and WHERE this access took exaclty place is impossible - again: Would Herbert ever have been able to prove Lucas had read "Dune"? No. It was enough that his book was around.

The real case should be "substantial similarity". THAT'S the thing that - in a fair justice system - would be the thing debated on. CBS could really make a case their Tardigrade is different enough. But that's not what they're doing: They're using legale loopholes protecting big corporations encoded by lobbyists. They would be stupid not to. It just shows how utterly broken the court system is at this point.

Osterberg, Eric C. (2003). Substantial similarity in copyright law. Practising Law Institute, states:

To win a claim of copyright infringement in civil or criminal court, a plaintiff must show he or she owns a valid copyright, the defendant actually copied the work, and the level of copying amounts to misappropriation. Under the doctrine of substantial similarity, a work can be found to infringe copyright even if the wording of text has been changed or visual or audible elements are altered.

Seems pretty clear to me.

 

[Tuskin38]

He said? He will need every bit of evidence he can find. 'He said' won't cut it.

He'll also have to prove that what we are seeing is what was available at the time to the general public, and that he hasn't manipulated anything.

The current version of the character that Stamets is a allegedly copying, wasn't revealed until after Anthony Rapp's casting was announced.

So, unless CBS hacked the guys computer, that specific example is debunked.

 

[DaveyNY]

When this first hit public knowledge, I went looking for his "game" on STEAM.
(I've been an active member there for over a decade)
I took me several tries over a couple of weeks before I was able to actually access his materials.
And what I found was a mess, nothing resembling a coherent game was attached to the files.
At best he had 10 to 12 pictures with half-assed notes attached (which were not all in a single place) and a lot of "I'm planning on doing this..." type of exposition.
This guy is shooting for the stars with only a couple of rubber bands and an empty paper towel tube to get there.

 

[marsh8472]

He said? He will need every bit of evidence he can find. 'He said' won't cut it.

He'll also have to prove that what we are seeing is what was available at the time to the general public, and that he hasn't manipulated anything.

Yeah I see it at the forum he was talking about, looks to be a legit claim. Everyone keep up with his blog and stuff too? I haven't read the previous 40 pages of the thread but this was the post he made last month.

Yesterday, January 8th, the judge had a pretrial hearing in her courtroom with all lawyers involved. The meeting resulted in very positive outcomes that help find the truth and serve justice. The defendants request to dismiss the case based on it being a "frivolous claim" was not entertained by the judge. The defendants' argument kept going around me trying to own copyrights to the real life tardigrade (I never claimed that).

The judge set the timeline for summary judgment motion which means that the defendants attempt to dismiss the case is limited to actual legal defects instead of generic claims.

The judge also gave us 'discovery' which means that we can request and the defendants are compelled to provide information to support our case. The discovery order was only one sided which means that the defendants cannot request information from us.

Finally, the judge granted us the third amended complaint as of right. This means that we no longer need the expressed permission from the defendants to file the third complaint.

It sounds like he's getting a lot of support.

Osterberg, Eric C. (2003). Substantial similarity in copyright law. Practising Law Institute, states:

To win a claim of copyright infringement in civil or criminal court, a plaintiff must show he or she owns a valid copyright, the defendant actually copied the work, and the level of copying amounts to misappropriation. Under the doctrine of substantial similarity, a work can be found to infringe copyright even if the wording of text has been changed or visual or audible elements are altered.

Seems pretty clear to me.

He filed his copyright last month January 17th

FILING ERROR - DEFICIENT PLEADING - FRCP RULE 15 NON-COMPLIANCE -THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT amending 49 Amended Complaint,, against CBS Broadcasting Inc, CBS Corp., CBS Interactive, Inc., Netflix, Inc., CBS ALL ACCESS with JURY DEMAND.Document filed by Anas Osama Ibrahim Abdin. Related document: 49 Amended Complaint,,. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Copyright Registration, # 2 Exhibit Copyright Deposit, # 3 Exhibit Artwork Comparison, # 4 Exhibit Article, # 5 Exhibit Article, # 6 Exhibit Article, # 7 Exhibit Article, # 8 Exhibit Ordinary Observer) (Entered: 01/17/2019)

 

[saladdays]

There's at least 20 other documents submitted by them. The complaint is 13 pages long. You'd think they must have some kind of case if they feel it's worth paying a $400 filing fee.

Thirteen pages is not abnormal for complaints at all, and the length of the complaint doesn't really matter that much anyway. There's bloated complaints that are dozens of pages long that could be much, much shorter. And the filing fee, well, you just have to look at how bogged down the court system is to see that many will pay a filing fee no matter what.

 

[BillJ]

I'm browsing through Google images, and most of the images from the comparison pictures don't even seem to be out there without the comparison pictures.

I am starting to wonder if this is a case where this guy is suing CBS to jumpstart something that was pretty well dead? The game still hasn't released (that I can find), even though he was trying to get it greenlit in 2014.

 

[Campe]

Thirteen pages is not abnormal for complaints at all, and the length of the complaint doesn't really matter that much anyway. There's bloated complaints that are dozens of pages long that could be much, much shorter. And the filing fee, well, you just have to look at how bogged down the court system is to see that many will pay a filing fee no matter what.

Hell, when I worked on the defense side of asbestos litigation, I saw some 400 page complaints. Depends on the number of parties in the case and what the plaintiff's claims are.

 

[marsh8472]

Thirteen pages is not abnormal for complaints at all, and the length of the complaint doesn't really matter that much anyway. There's bloated complaints that are dozens of pages long that could be much, much shorter. And the filing fee, well, you just have to look at how bogged down the court system is to see that many will pay a filing fee no matter what.

Since it's just a civil case burden of proof isn't that hard like a criminal case. He seems pretty confident. I've actually got summoned for jury duty next month myself. Maybe I'll get more insight from that.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

If the ruling was in favor of the game designer, I’m sorry but that does not mean DISCO will be wiped out of canon. That’s just wishful thinking for DISCO haters.

 

[DaveyNY]

Yeah I see it at the forum he was talking about, looks to be a legit claim. Everyone keep up with his blog and stuff too? I haven't read the previous 40 pages of the thread but this was the post he made last month.



It sounds like he's getting a lot of support.



He filed his copyright last month January 17th

Which puts it outside of the complaint made against CBS and therefore not relevant to the case.
(which his lawyer indicated in their 2nd or 3rd filing update, I can't remember which)

 

[Campe]

If the ruling was in favor of the game designer, I’m sorry but that does not mean DISCO will be wiped out of canon. That’s just wishful thinking for DISCO haters.

I don't understand how someone can hate something so much they wish nothing more than to delete it from existence for those who does. I seriously just can't wrap my brain about having that much hate in you. Over a TV show!

 

[MakeshiftPython]

I don't understand how someone can hate something so much they wish nothing more than to delete it from existence for those who does. I seriously just can't wrap my brain about having that much hate in you. Over a TV show!

Canon is precious.