EA begins lawsuit against Zynga
The Ville said to be a copy of The Sims Social
Electronic Arts has last week announced that it has filed a lawsuit on behalf of its Maxis Label against Zynga Inc. for infringing EA’s copyrights to its Facebook game, The Sims Social.
In the complaint, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on August 3, 2012, EA claims that in Zynga’s recently-released Facebook game The Ville, Zynga has willfully and intentionally copied and misappropriated the original and distinctive expressive elements of The Sims Social in a violation of U.S. copyright laws.
Lucy Bradshaw, General Manager of EA’s Maxis Label, commented: “As outlined in our complaint, when The Ville was introduced in June 2012, the infringement of The Sims Social was unmistakable to those of us at Maxis as well as to players and the industry at large. The similarities go well beyond any superficial resemblance. Zynga’s design choices, animations, visual arrangements and character motions and actions have been directly lifted from The Sims Social. The copying was so comprehensive that the two games are, to an uninitiated observer, largely indistinguishable."
General Counsel for Zynga Reggie Davis has responded to EA's claims stating: "It's unfortunate that EA thought that this was an appropriate response to our game, and clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of basic copyright principles. It's also ironic that EA brings this suit shortly after launching SimCity Social which bears an uncanny resemblance to Zynga's CityVille game."
It's expected that the lawsuit will take a lengthy amount of time to resolve.
In the complaint, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on August 3, 2012, EA claims that in Zynga’s recently-released Facebook game The Ville, Zynga has willfully and intentionally copied and misappropriated the original and distinctive expressive elements of The Sims Social in a violation of U.S. copyright laws.
Lucy Bradshaw, General Manager of EA’s Maxis Label, commented: “As outlined in our complaint, when The Ville was introduced in June 2012, the infringement of The Sims Social was unmistakable to those of us at Maxis as well as to players and the industry at large. The similarities go well beyond any superficial resemblance. Zynga’s design choices, animations, visual arrangements and character motions and actions have been directly lifted from The Sims Social. The copying was so comprehensive that the two games are, to an uninitiated observer, largely indistinguishable."
General Counsel for Zynga Reggie Davis has responded to EA's claims stating: "It's unfortunate that EA thought that this was an appropriate response to our game, and clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of basic copyright principles. It's also ironic that EA brings this suit shortly after launching SimCity Social which bears an uncanny resemblance to Zynga's CityVille game."
It's expected that the lawsuit will take a lengthy amount of time to resolve.
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