That we here at Fanboy Planet have a fondness for NCSoft and Cryptic Studios' MMORPG City of Heroes is no secret. Actually, "fondness" is an understatement. The game sucked several unwary staff members in; why, Michael Goodson hasn't slept in three weeks in his "Journey to Level 50" (which we'll be running next week, hopefully). So maybe we have too much time on our hands.
Maybe so does Marvel Comics. Because last week they slapped the game's publisher and developer with a lawsuit, claiming that City of Heroes allows for rampant copyright violation. Specifically, according to Alex Veiga of the Associated Press, Marvel "...singles out a game feature for creating a 'gigantic, green science-based tanker-type hero that moves and behaves nearly identically to the Hulk.'"
The company went on to complain about a look similar to Wolverine, and the ability of players to even use the names of existing superheroes. What they didn't mention is that doing such is a violation of the terms of service.
Cynics point out that Marvel had their own MMORPG in development with Vivendi Universal. Though that project has apparently stalled, it still clearly swirls in the minds of Marvel executives. The suit claims that NCSoft and Cryptic Studios have "...disrupted 'existing and future' business prospects for licensing its characters in games like City of Heroes."
Once again, I stress that playing as Spider-Man or Wolverine is forbidden. I'll admit that I have been pushed aside once by The Bulk, but I can only assume that Paragon City officials later destroyed the character.
For its part, NCSoft and Cryptic Studios respond on the
community forum as follows:
We at Cryptic Studios and NCsoft thank you for your
kind words of support. We strongly disagree with Marvel's
claims and intend to contest this matter vigorously.
Cryptic and NCsoft have been working hard since beta
to enforce our intellectual property clause of the End User
License Agreement ("EULA") and will continue to do so. I
have read many posts and received many PMs asking how Paragon
City can help. The best way you can help is by reporting
characters that you believe might violate the intellectual
property rules in our EULA. You can do this via /petition
in-game or by sending an email to support@coh.com.
Again, thank you for your support and for being ever
vigilant in helping us enforce our EULA. It is our policy
not to comment on pending or current litigation, so please
do not expect further discussion from us here on the boards
regarding this matter. If and when we feel we can say something
further, we will.
More news on this as it develops, if it does.
