Ubisoft and Gametrailers being sued in Assassin’s Creed copyright infringement case

John Beiswenger, an American author and research engineer, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Ubisoft and Gametrailers. Beiswenger claims that the Assassin’s Creed franchise heavily borrowed ideas from his novel Link. Link was publisher in 2003 and the first Assassin’s Creed game was released in 2007.

 

 

The author claims that the Animus device used in the Assassin’s Creed franchise is very similar to Link device since both allow the user to relive memories of their ancestors. The author claims in the legal document that his novel uses “assassinations” and “spiritual and biblical tones” that are also used within the Assassin’s Creed franchise.

Beiswenger is also suing Gametrailers for the Assassin’s Creed trailers that relate to the Assassin’s Creed series.

Beiswenger is claiming up to 5.25 million in damages and a halt to any further copyright infringement. According to Gamasutra Beiswenger is a: “product research engineer, and is named on over 20 U.S. utility patents, including color LCD touch display technology, digital alarm clock electronics, fingerprint scanning technology and surgical instrument sterilization” and only found out the most significant device in one of the most popular series of this generation may be a copy of a book he wrote almost nine years ago. 

 

L. Garrett, Meghann, and Kelley Clements Keller. "UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA ."http://www.bannerwitcoff.com. N.p., 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 18 Apr. 2012.