Dungeons & Dragons - Hasbro Sues Atari

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Shir'le E. Illios
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Dungeons & Dragons - Hasbro Sues Atari

Post by Shir'le E. Illios »

Atari, roll to save versus Legal Shenanigans.

It seems that Hasbro and its subsidiary Wizards of the Coast are suing Atari over unauthorized sub-licensing the Dungeons & Dragons digital game rights.

Atari signed a deal with Namco Bandai Europe for it's European distribution and since Hasbro sees Namco Bandai as a competitor they're not happy about it. Of course, Atari denies the charges, saying the following:

[quote:3qxtw5rh]"Atari has had a long and rich history with the Dungeons and Dragons franchise, investing millions of dollars into numerous critically acclaimed and commercially successful games that have generated significant revenue for Hasbro," said an Atari statement issued Thursday.

"Hasbro has resorted to these meritless allegations, in an apparent attempt to unfairly take back rights granted to Atari. Atari has sought to resolve the matter without cooperation from Hasbro. We regret that our long-time partner has decided to pursue this action. Atari will respond appropriately through its legal counsel in court."[/quote:3qxtw5rh]
Wizards of the Coast however says the following:

[quote:3qxtw5rh]"While unfortunate that we had to take this action, it is crucial for us to protect the Dungeons & Dragons brand," said Greg Leeds, president of Wizards of the Coast. "We have been working for several months now to reach resolution with Atari, and they have left us with no other choice than to pursue legal action."[/quote:3qxtw5rh]
You can read the entire news [url=http://www.gamasutra.com//view/news/265 ... p:3qxtw5rh]on Gamasutra[/url:3qxtw5rh].

I guess that ti's too much to hope that this might cause the end of D&D 4E? Ah well.


[[url=http://www.gamasutra.com//view/news/265 ... p:3qxtw5rh]link[/url:3qxtw5rh]] to news article at Gamasutra.


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Post by Zekafae »

Well.. maybe its Gygax's way of saying " Don't mess with my world!" Remember, he has natural 20 they've made him mad, bad idea.
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Bhaern Quel
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Post by Bhaern Quel »

As I understand it, TSR sold, or long term licensed computer gaming rights.

It clearly might be interesting to see what rights TSR retained concerning sub-license agreements and sold to WotC.
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Post by Zekafae »

After surviving first semester in college involving game developement, all I can say is that when it comes to liscensing and copyrights... it is so rediculous and insane that it's painful to look at all of what companies go through. have to constantly make sure that no one's taking your stuff, and then go sue crazy when they do. Because if you don't sue an outfit even once, you basically all but forfeit your rights. It's seriously messed up. Not even right, but really they were best off with 3.5
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