Former IW Bosses Object To Activision Involving EA
Call of Duty: Black OpsLate last year, Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard wanted to amend their ongoing lawsuit involving former Infinity Ward bosses Vince Zampella and Jason West. Activision implicated EA as co-defendants in the case, and also sought $400 million in damages from the Respawn founders and their biggest competition (which just so happens to be Respawn's publisher).
But Zampella and West have objected to this move, saying Activision waited too long to make the request. Furthermore, they claim Activision only asked for the amendment "in order to cause undue financial hardship on the game makers." The filing reads as follows:
"Litigating this case imposes substantial financial and time burdens on [Jason West and Vince Zampella]--much greater burdens than those imposed on Activision, a large corporation that has earned over $3 billion from selling the videogames plaintiffs developed. Plaintiffs suspect that Activision waited so long to add EA primarily to delay plaintiffs' day in court. Plaintiffs desire a prompt resolution to their claims and to avoid the significant additional expense that a delayed trial date would cause."
The monthly cost of this litigation has imposed a substantial cost on [Jason West] and co-plaintiff Vince Zampella. West and Zampella are paying for the litigation from their own funds and are not being subsidized or reimbursed by anyone else. … Delaying the trial means more costs, more burdens, and continued distractions in trying to run their business, non-party Respawn, and manage its dozens of employees."
Finally, they claim Activision didn't just "discover" this supposed relation to EA; they knew about it "some seven months before Activision entered its motion to amend." And so, the complications continue to rise and the ugliness grows. The trial is slated to begin on May 23 but we imagine it'll take a loooong time to sort all this out.
You know, as intensely boring as it is, I often thought I'd make a good lawyer. But it's news like this that makes me feel all...icky...about the possibility.
Tags: activision, ea, jason west, vince zampella, call of duty
1/5/2011 8:53:39 PM John Shepard
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Comments (22 posts)
booze925
Wednesday, January 05, 2011 @ 10:19:07 PM
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Vince and Zapella were a pair of sneaky, caniving snakes while activision is the greedy, self-absorbed bunch a sh*ts.
i think activision is getting desperate though. they know that no sensable person will take their side. and i THINK they know they are ALSO in the wrong, and will say anything to make themselves look legit. don't buy into it.
Last edited by booze925 on 1/5/2011 10:22:23 PM
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OPHIDIAN
Wednesday, January 05, 2011 @ 10:48:53 PM
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The case I'm working on now is as follows:
Single Mother has 2 children: 1 daughter, 1 son.
Son becomes games developer, daughter marries rich man goes to USA.
Mother has Alzheimer, son quits jobs and business and looks after mother
Son is incredibly caring, so mother leaves him £1.5 million in will, daughter £500,000
Mother condition gets worse, daughter visits, changes mothers will so she get £1.5 million
Mother dies
Son comes to me to get £1.5 mill back
End of story so far....
I get to handle this case and get a sweet sum by the end of it win or lose.
Sounds interesting to me!
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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Thursday, January 06, 2011 @ 12:59:23 AM
'snore'
;)
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Underdog15
Thursday, January 06, 2011 @ 8:27:59 AM
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Underdog15
Thursday, January 06, 2011 @ 9:57:45 AM
And $50 says Obsidian is representing the son! ;)
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BikerSaint
Thursday, January 06, 2011 @ 4:10:33 PM
But IMO, the whole biggest line there that should bother everyone, is this one.....
"I get to handle this case and get a sweet sum by the end of it win or lose".
"NOT COOL"!
And comment's like that one just made, are exactly why most lawyers are perceived to be nothing more than a flock of greedy vultures.
Last edited by BikerSaint on 1/6/2011 4:11:56 PM
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OPHIDIAN
Thursday, January 06, 2011 @ 6:48:13 PM
lol, I actually agree with you. I 'work' in order to get paid. I don't know anyone who works without remuneration in mind.
Why do I get a sweet sum? I have put exactly 183 hours 20 minutes into this case thus far, reading 100s documents, writing over a 100 documents without a single grammatical error, some days working from 6am to 8pm and then took work home. I only managed to pass uncharted 2 three weeks ago!
Why get paid win or lose? Unfortunately it will be up to the judge to decide whether I have a credible argument, not me. Surely I deserve something for my efforts though, hence the payment.
@Ben:
I think it is the actual prestige of the whole thing that makes it cool. I find it interesting personally though.
@World:
True, sadly they apparently had a good relationship when the parents were alive.
Last edited by OPHIDIAN on 1/6/2011 6:53:41 PM
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HighOnFire
Wednesday, January 05, 2011 @ 10:49:44 PM
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Imagi
Saturday, January 08, 2011 @ 4:55:05 AM
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Alienange
Wednesday, January 05, 2011 @ 10:55:42 PM
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Here we are, beginning of January. Black Ops has been out a while, and now they're trying to put together next year's monster hit. They now see that IW most likely will not be able to and they're going after EA because they lost more than just a couple of guys. They lost key talent to their biggest rival, and they're sour.
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BTNwarrior
Wednesday, January 05, 2011 @ 11:28:32 PM
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Jawknee
Wednesday, January 05, 2011 @ 11:56:47 PM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, January 06, 2011 @ 12:41:10 AM
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Not surprisingly it will involved revisits to locales in cod4 and MW2. Better known as recycled stuff like they did with the maps for MW2 that were just places in Cod4
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Godslim
Thursday, January 06, 2011 @ 7:25:57 AM
i love ghost/gaz and would like a prequel but think the cod series needs an entrire rebbot now its been 4 games that basically the same sortta thing
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OPHIDIAN
Thursday, January 06, 2011 @ 6:55:40 PM
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___________
Thursday, January 06, 2011 @ 2:25:57 AM
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makes me feel like im 5 at the zoo watching monkeys crap in there hands and hurl it at each other!
dunno what happened, dont care really, but it sure is funny sitting back and watching hell break loose!
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BikerSaint
Thursday, January 06, 2011 @ 4:16:27 PM
Ah, I see.......
sort of like the exact way you always do towards almost every game mentioned at PSXE.
Want another banana????
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Zorigo
Thursday, January 06, 2011 @ 3:36:36 PM
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im looking at you apple. the ipod is like twice/three times the price of any equivalent mp4 player. and its nooo better.
/rant.
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Fane1024
Saturday, January 08, 2011 @ 3:18:59 PM
;)
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Imagi
Saturday, January 08, 2011 @ 3:54:22 AM
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Where's the Justice in that. Legal systems are one of the biggest scams going!
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WorldEndsWithMe
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Wednesday, January 05, 2011 @ 10:06:18 PM