Author John L. Beiswenger Drops Lawsuit Against AC And Ubisoft
See Full ImageAs many of you know, American author John L. Beiswenger filed a lawsuit against Ubisoft and its subsidiary companies (as well as GameTrailers, Inc.), claiming the storyline in the Assassin's Creed franchise very closely resembles the plot of one of his novels, "LINK."
However, a press release has confirmed that on May 18, GameTrailers reached a confidential settlement with Beiswenger under "undisclosed terms" and furthermore, as of May 29, the author has dropped his fight against Ubisoft. He has "voluntarily dismissed the action" against Ubisoft, and "without prejudice."
Because he ended this without prejudice, his claims are intact so if he wants to come back at Ubisoft in the future, he can. Apparently, lacking resources caused Beiswenger to suspend the lawsuit (yes, these things require money), as he alludes to in an official statement:
"I filed the Complaint and Motion for Preliminary Injunction in federal court because I believe authors should vigorously defend their rights in their creative works; Otherwise, the laws protecting them simply have no purpose. Regrettably, the resources required to defend those rights are unavailable to many individual creators. As a result, rampant infringement is occurring with impunity."
To learn more about the abandoned suit and the reasons for his dismissal, visit Beiswenger's official website.
Tags: assassins creed, john beiswenger, ubisoft, assassins creed lawsuit
5/29/2012 9:20:13 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (9 posts)
Kingnichendrix
Tuesday, May 29, 2012 @ 10:52:57 PM
Reply
2 up, 6 down
kraygen
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 @ 12:50:29 AM
Reply
3 up, 1 down
matt99
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 @ 12:56:35 AM
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In this case I think any similarities to this guys novels are purely coincidental, and not specific enough-he claims the similarities are AC's spiritual and biblical tones and the battle between good and evil...
0 up, 0 down
ProfPlayStation
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 @ 3:45:17 AM
No one familiar with Assassin's Creed can deny that this description is extremely similar.
I guess the worst thing to come out of this situation is ignorant and immature gamers review-bombing his books on Amazon. It was funny with Cooper Lawrence, because she absolutely deserved it, but this guy didn't. An artist defending their work, regardless of whether it was fully accurate in this case, should be respected. What's next? Review-bomb an indie music group because their music is used without permission in The Avengers 2?
4 up, 0 down
___________
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 @ 5:41:16 AM
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a much more believable reason would be i realised how stupid and futile this is and ubisoft was ready to follow with a counter suit.
its quite disgusting how many people throw this sh*t around and waste the courts time just as a simple ploy to gain money!
4 up, 5 down
Deathb4Dishonor
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 @ 7:14:15 AM
2 up, 2 down
slugga_status
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 @ 11:26:59 AM
It is highly likely that he doesn't have the money. You have to think about it, this has already gone on for months. It would likely continue for another year and half if not more. For a author, we don't know how much he's made but it's obvious if he made a ton of money off his books then he would've continued with the suit. In this manor he can pick it back up when he has enough funds.
2 up, 0 down
Underdog15
Thursday, May 31, 2012 @ 10:06:14 AM
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(It's in your head now, isn't it? HA!)
0 up, 2 down
PoopsMcGee
Reply
Tuesday, May 29, 2012 @ 10:43:29 PM
"Regrettably, the resources required to defend those rights are unavailable to many individual creators. As a result, rampant infringement is occurring with impunity."
Giant corporations can and do steal creative works from little-known artists constantly (almost as if it was written policy)...
Last edited by PoopsMcGee on 5/29/2012 10:44:14 PM