[MusicallyInspired]

Sanek, on 30 May 2019 - 10:47 AM, said:

Another quesiton is, where have they been for a year after game's release? Does they literally waited when 3DR have some money from it?

See my earlier post a few posts back. Iron Maiden updated their trademark on May 6th. Interestingly it also says it was filed in the category of "computer & software products".

[Doom64hunter]

Zor, on 30 May 2019 - 09:37 AM, said:

uhhhh... System Shock and Serious Sam have those initials too you know?

[Sledgehammer]

Jimmy 100MPH, on 30 May 2019 - 08:40 AM, said:

Again, this isn't about copyrights. It's about trademarks.

I made pretty big mistake there then (though I was thinking about trademark when said that). But still, it changes nothing. I hope Ion Maiden stays the way it is so the devs just use this situation as free advertisement. From what it looks like they (3D Realms and Voidpoint) definitely can win this case.

[enderandrew]

Sledgehammer, on 30 May 2019 - 03:14 AM, said:

American copyright system is really bullshit. I guess if Guilty Gear wasn't Japanese game Iron Maiden and other bands would sue the series to death because it has shitton of heavy metal references including Iron Maiden (and by saying shitton I really mean it).

If I ever bother with Iron Maiden stuff I will pirate it and I hope they lose the law suit. Putting simple references in games should not be prohibited by the law in America or around the world.

Just to clarify, this is a trademark claim, not a copyright claim.

It is also a really weak claim, and a dick move.

[AlektorophobiA]

MusicallyInspired, on 30 May 2019 - 10:52 AM, said:

See my earlier post a few posts back. Iron Maiden updated their trademark on May 6th. Interestingly it also says it was filed in the category of "computer & software products".

Probably related to this:


If that's the case, are they claiming that people will get confused between Ion Maiden and their mobile game?, they are not even on the same platform for christ's sake.

[OpenMaw]

Next they'll have to go after the Painkiller series for obviously ripping off their song.

[Mark]

Hmm...It shows that game is free to download and play. So its not lost revenue they're worried about. I guess they just want to look out for us that we don't buy IM thinking its an Iron Maiden game. How benevolent of them that they want only 2 million dollars to protect us from our stupidity.

[Newken]

Commando Nukem, on 30 May 2019 - 12:44 PM, said:

Next they'll have to go after the Painkiller series for obviously ripping off their song.

BTW, Judas Priest > Iron Maiden

[OpenMaw]

How did I fuck that up?

Getting senile.

[MusicallyInspired]

They should sue id Software/Bethesda for the Iron Maiden baddie in Quake 2. And also Capcom for the one in Resident Evil IV.

[Mr. Tibbs]

Newken, on 30 May 2019 - 01:29 PM, said:

BTW, Judas Priest > Iron Maiden

They even robbed a bank with their instruments!

[NNC]

This whole infringement debacle is disgusting. Never listen to this overrated band again.

[Hank]

^ Am I gonna bury my original vinyl albums? Why? If I toss out everything, because some of the people, who made a given music/movie/game are jerks, I'd have nothing/little left.

3D Realms gets sued again for another Trademark infringement. Let’s just hope it does not end up as their first. That too looked like a no brainer, but they paid bitterly in the end.


Who would have thougth that Gøønit (@ Steam) is a visionary?

Ion Maiden caught in Iron Maiden

[Mike Norvak]

Hank, on 30 May 2019 - 08:33 PM, said:

^ Am I gonna bury my original vinyl albums?

Make sure to take that on video and put some explosives, make slow motion captures of the explosions and upload it to YouTube, I'm pretty sure when you'll get thousand of views the band's trademark team is going to claim any profit you make from the video...

[Jimmy]

It's not even the band that's doing it.

[NNC]

Well, we should find out what Harris or Dickinson think about the issue.

What was really appalling they even dare to say the Shelly Harrison name is also an infringement, and made up stories like people bought this game because they thought it's related to the band. A $7 bill is more credible than these ridiculous claims. And they ask no less but 2 million.

I don't know if it's the band behind this debacle or the management, but they are already lost this battle and it will hurt their legacy more than the money they ask for.

[Zaxx]

Guys, stop hating on fucking Iron Maiden, chances are they don't even know Ion Maiden exists. What you wanna hate is Iron Maiden Holdings, the company that's behind the lawsuit... but hate may be too strong of a feeling for them too because they only do what they pay them for honestly.

Also: I don't want to blame 3DR because that would be pointless and stupid (fuck Iron Maiden Holdings though) but there are two things to keep in mind:

- There is a similarity in the title, that's the real issue here, not the shitty little details they say to back up their claims as best as they can (that's kind of just a lawyer thing, they have to at least somewhat justify that 2 million they made up with every little fucking thing they can come up with even if it's a fairy tale).

- There is a history of Iron Maiden Holdings going after shit like this, they even sued a comic made by Jason Rubin because there was a similarity in the title (it was called Iron and the Maiden) and he had to change the title.

So overall I think that 3DR should have looked more into this stuff when choosing the title because from that it does seem risky to go with Ion Maiden.

And now that you no longer hate Iron Maiden here's some music to calm your nerves:

[Aristotle Gumball]

You can easily blame the band, lol. Ignorance isn't an excuse. "Poor millionaires, they didn't even know what was being done on their behalf".

That said, a shit ton of people do mistakenly believe the game has something to do with the band. You see it in online comments a lot.

[----]

Interesting. I once had a few drinks with Steve Harris as he stopped by at the local pub I viset every other day (not a huge Maiden fan, but hey, why not). And he agreed to take a few photos with the pub's branded shirts (who he really liked) as free advertising for them. All he asked for that they only post the photos after an hour or so, so that not hundreds of people from the open air festival that took place a few villages further down flood the bar.

Not defending the cause or the band, but I think it is management and or law-firm.

I hope that it gets settled out of court and a rename is all it takes. That way not a lot of additional work has to be done and the game got a bit more of free advertising.


Back in the day things were a lot easier. Look at DN3D's cover art ... a straight ripoff from Army of Darkness. Same with Turrican (which was huge in Europe): Compare it to Manowar's album cover (Kings of Metal, I think). And some of DN2's graphics were straight ripped out of Turrican. And nothing happened.
OK, Nintendo went after "The Great Giana Sisters" on C64 and Amiga and Irem after katakis (an R-Type ripoff). But in the latter case Activision (the puiblishers) asked the programmer of Katakis to do their R-Type port for C64 and Amiga. That's how things should work out.

[Zaxx]

Anyway Shrapnel Siren would really be a cool alternative title and since this game doesn't feature the Ion Maiden weapon (as far as we know at least) and Shelly doesn't have a mechanical arm it may be even a bit more fitting for the game.

[Aristotle Gumball]

fuegerstef, on 31 May 2019 - 01:09 AM, said:

Back in the day things were a lot easier. Look at DN3D's cover art ... a straight ripoff from Army of Darkness.

Look familiar?





AFAIK most of the midis in Doom were straight ripoffs of famous thrash metal songs of the time as well.

[NNC]

Randy will sue Shrapnel Siren, because it's a derivative of Shrapnel City.

[Zaxx]

Nancsi, on 31 May 2019 - 02:36 AM, said:

Randy will sue Shrapnel Siren, because it's a derivative of Shrapnel City.

Then they'll just change the title to Bitchford City.

[MusicallyInspired]

The case IM Holdings seems to be making is that, being a trademark lawsuit, they're trying to prove that 3D Realms are intentionally trying to confuse customers into believing their game is somehow connected to the band and their brand. I'm no lawyer (clearly!), but does that mean that because this is not a copyright case that the fact that the names are similar doesn't mean much on its own? And that's therefore the reason why they came up with all the supporting "evidence" to prove how "similar" the game is to the band? Because it seems to me that if it were purely on the basis of having similar names that this would just be thrown out of court due to the iron maiden term having existed way before the band. So they're trying to prove that this game is trying to rip off the band's brand which is ridiculous. I guess it depends on how perceptive the judge is, but isn't this all open and shut in that case if the judge sees that the game and the band are nothing alike (or the game and the band's game for that matter)?

Or am I totally wrong and misunderstanding the difference between copyright and trademark?

It seems like the reverse of that one lawsuit that an indie point and click adventure game designer filed against CBS for ripping off his story, concept, and characters for Star Trek Discovery from his game Tardigrades (which totally seems to have merit, by the way).

[Sanek]

MusicallyInspired, on 31 May 2019 - 05:52 AM, said:

I guess it depends on how perceptive the judge is, but isn't this all open and shut in that case if the judge sees that the game and the band are nothing alike (or the game and the band's game for that matter)?

I think it depends on who have more money. You said, Iron Maiden's brand was ripped-off a number of times but there's no accusations. The likes of Capcom and Bethesda is Holding's equals as far as finances is concerned, but 3DR is very small by comprasion with these companies, so it's easy prey for these trademark hunters.

[MusicallyInspired]

Sigh, true.

[Perro Seco]

Zaxx, on 31 May 2019 - 01:31 AM, said:

Shrapnel Siren would really be a cool alternative title

I don't know how many meanings has "siren" in English, but in Spanish (sirena) means 1: mermaid and 2: alarm signal. With that name people will expect some kind of game about women with fish tails...

I hope they can keep "Ion Maiden", which sounds good even if you never heard of Iron Maiden before. If not..., better try with "Ion Maidun".

[MusicallyInspired]

Was the skull in the logo designed to be an Iron Maiden homage? Were the artists even thinking of Eddie when they designed it?

[Mark]

My guess is yes. Was that skull used anywhere inside the game itself before the title was chosen? Then my guess is no.

[oasiz]

https://bombshell.ga...om/Bowling_bomb