Federal Judge Dismisses Marvel Lawsuit Against City of Heroes

Wolverine doppelgangers are safe from litigation in NCsoft's MMMORPG.

A U.S. district court judge in Los Angeles dismissed Marvel's key claims of trademark and copyright infringement against NCsoft's City of Heroes. The comic book publisher sued NCsoft and Cryptic Studios in November of last year, claiming that their MMORPG allows players to illegally imitate comic book characters owned by Marvel.

In a March 9 order, U.S. District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner sided with NCsoft, saying that some of Marvel's allegations and exhibits should be stricken as "false and sham" since the allegedly infringing works were created not by users, but by Marvel itself.

Other claims dismissed were Marvel's claims of the defendants directly infringing Marvel's registered trademarks and are liable for purported infringement of Marvel's trademarks by City of Heroes' players; and a claim for a judicial declaration that defendants are not an online service provider under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The judge dismissed claims without leave to amend, meaning Marvel cannot re-file the claims.

The defendants have 10 days to answer and dispute Marvel's allegations and to assert any counterclaims.

Comments [0]

post a comment

Post a Comment