Hmm... maybe playmore WILL take a stand on their coypwrites. Has anyone read this(it's kinda long). Sounds pretty aggressive. What do you think:
October 28, 2002
PLAYMORE CORPORATION
Actions against Aruze Corporation by PLAYMORE
CORPORATION
1.
Action for damages (Complaint accepted by the Court as of February 28, 2002)
Summary of Action
:
"Trademark and copyright infringement by Aruze's
pachinko slot machine, "Crazy Racer R"
PLAYMORE filed a trademark and copyright action for damages in Osaka District Court alleging that Aruze was infringing upon PLAYMORE's trademark and copyright (literary work) concerning "Crazy Racer" of PLAYMORE by using such trademark and copyright (literary work) for Aruze's pachinko slot machine, "Crazy Racer R", and continuing the sale of the same, without obtaining any license or permission from PLAYMORE.
Damages claimed
:
120,000,000 Japanese Yen
Note
:
PLAYMORE also filed a criminal action in the Tokyo
Metropolitan Police Dept. alleging Aruze was infringing upon PLAYMORE's trademark. (Complaint accepted by the TMPD as of July 3, 2002)
2.
Action for Damages (Complaint accepted by the Court as of March 15, 2002)
Summary of Action
:
"Copyright infringement by Aruze's pachinko slot
machine, "Bakucho"
PLAYMORE filed a copyright action for damages in Osaka District Court alleging that Aruze was infringing upon PLAYMORE's copyrights (literary woks) concerning "IRE- GUI" and "Bakucho" of PLAYMORE by using such copyrights (literary woks) for Aruze's pachinko slot machine, "Bakucho R", and continuing the sale of the same, without obtaining any license or permission from PLAYMORE.
Damages claimed
:
2,400,000,000 Japanese Yen
3.
Action for damages and judicial injunction (Complaint accepted by the Court as of
April 9, 2002)
Summary of Action
:
"Copyright infringement by Aruze's software for
PlayStation 2, for "Aruze Kingdom 6 (Crazy Racer)"
PLAYMORE filed a copyright action for damages and injunctive relief to prevent the sale of "Aruze Kingdom 6" in Osaka District Court alleging that Aruze was knowingly infringing upon PLAYMORE's trademark and copyright (literary work) concerning "Crazy Racer" of PLAYMORE by using such trademark and copyright (literary work) for Aruze's software for PlayStation 2, "Aruze Kingdom 6", and continuing the sale of said software, without obtaining any license or permission from PLAYMORE.
Damages claimed
:
989,940,000 Japanese Yen
4.
Action for damages and judicial injunction (Complaint accepted by the Court as of
August 23, 2002)
Summary of Action
:
"Copyright infringement by Aruze's software for
PlayStation 2, "Aruze Kingdom 7 (Bakucho)"
PLAYMORE filed a copyright action for damages and injunctive relief to prevent the sale of "Aruze Kingdom 7" in Osaka District Court alleging that Aruze and Nihon Amusement Broadcasting Co. were knowingly infringing upon PLAYMORE's copyright (literary work) concerning "IRE-GUI" and "Bakucho" of PLAYMORE by using such copyright (literary work) for its software for PlayStation 2, "Aruze Kingdom 7", and continuing the sale of said software, without obtaining any license or permission from PLAYMORE.
It should be pointed out that Aruze totally disregarded the action for damages of the item 2 above and knowingly infringed again PLAYMORE's copyright in the same manner. Therefore, PLAYMORE has claimed damages to Aruze amounting to the total profit accrued to Aruze in this connection for the purpose of preventing the malicious act performed by Aruze. Aruze continued to make the unauthorized use of the software of "Bakucho" owned by PLAYMORE for its software for PlayStation 2 and market the same shamelessly through its affiliate company named Nihon Amusement Broadcasting Co.
Damages claimed
:
314,500,000 Japanese Yen
5.
Action for damages (Complaint accepted by the Court as of October 28, 2002)
Summary of Action
:
"Copyright infringement by Aruze's pachinko slot
machine, "IRE-GUI"
PLAYMORE filed a copyright action for damages in Osaka District Court alleging that Aruze was infringing upon PLAYMORE's copyright (literary work) concerning "IRE- GUI" owned by PLAYMORE by using such copyright (literary work) for its pachinko slot machine ,"IRE-GUI", and continuing the sale of the same, without obtaining any license or permission from PLAYMORE.
It should also be pointed out that Aruze continued to sell its "IRE-GUI" showing the inscription "(c)SNK 2001" expressly, that was the main cause of action of the above item 2, during the course of said action. Furthermore, Aruze continued to use the well-known characters of PLAYMORE among fans of fighting games such as "Terry Bogard" and "Mai Shiranui" appeared in "Fatal Fury" series and "The King of Fighters" series as premium characters. It being so, the infringement of PLAYMORE's rights by Aruze was quite clear so that PLAYMORE claimed damages to Aruze amounting to the total profit accrued to Aruze in this connection for the purpose of preventing the malicious act performed by Aruze, together with the action of the above item4.
Damages claimed
:
2,400,000,000 Japanese Yen
*
On the day of declaration of bankruptcy of SNK, PLAYMORE was assigned by the
receiver all the intellectual properties rights of SNK. Aruze had also joined the bid for the intellectual properties rights of SNK, but PLAYMORE had become a successful bidder. Therefore, it is apparent that Aruze must have known that general assignment of SNK's intellectual properties rights including the above-mentioned trademark and copyrights was made to PLAYMORE. It is also clear that Aruze has obtained excessive profit by continuing infringement of PLAYMORE's rights. In this connection the aggregate of damages claimed under five actions as above amounts to 6,224,440,000 Japanese yen.