David Jaffe, the lead designer for God of War, has been sued, along with Sony, for copyright infringement by Jonathan Bissoon-Dath and Jennifer Barrette-Herzog. In the lawsuit, they allege that Sony received "a series of related works of fiction, including Olympiad, a screenplay."
The two writers claim that in 2002, their work was sent to Sony, and that certain elements, such as the character relationships, dialogue, themes, settings and mood of the storyline were suspicously similar to the God of War plot and game elements.
Some of the claims in the lawsuit state:
* Plaintiff’s works tell the original story of how a champion saves Athens from destruction by the invading Spartan army that has been sent by Ares… [GoW]… is the story of how a champion chosen by Zeus and Athens saves Athen from destruction by an invading army sent by Ares…
* In plaintiff’s original work and God of War, the Champion’s family is hacked to death in a one-room building in a small peaceful village. In both stories the Champion feels partially responsible even though he is not really to blame…
* In exchange for Kratos’ pledge, Ares gives him… the Blades of Chaos… two massive, glowing, sword-like blades fastened to chains fused to Kratos’s wrists… These Blade of Chaos are taken directly from a scene in Bissoon-Dath’s work… "As Zeus strides forward… his hands MORPH into two massive swords that glow like light sabers…"
* …Owen must cross the Bottomless Valley over a long, sagging suspension bridge, shown on Barrette-Herzog’s map… in God of War Kratos must cross the Bottomless Chasm on a long, sagging suspension bridge…
Sony and Jaffe deny all wrong doing and point out that the elements and storylines found in Greek mythology are public domain and that the claimants’ charges are unfounded, "inaccurate, incomplete, abstracted and/or misleading."
The defendants in the case are asking the court to reimburse any court fees in defending their case against Barrette-Herzog and Bisson-Dath.
[via gamepolitics]
