Bethesda bringing Scrolls Battle to Court

 

Despite Notch (aka Markus Persson, aka the creator of Minecraft, aka my lover) offering to settle the issue in a Quake 3 deathmatch, it seems that big, bad, corporate Bethesda is moving forward with its lawsuit against Mojang.  The charge?  Mojang's upcoming game is named Scrolls and Bethesda feels this might confuse consumers with the upcoming Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and the four other Elder Scrolls games that came before (particularly the IVth addition, Oblivion, which was Game of the Year).

I know I often confuse an independent studio's release with a GOTY-producing product line.

When first announced, it was like a bad joke, and Notch offered to resolve the problem out-of-court in what should become a precedent of all frivolous lawsuits: a Quake 3 Deathmatch!  Nevermind that Bethesda made Quake 3, this dude has the balls to go toe-to-toe.

If anything, this was Bethesda's opportunity to save face and build its fan base.  If they lost?  Ha-ha, you got to name your game Scrolls, even though we didn't really want you to, but we got tons of practically free publicity.  If they won?  Ha-ha, we get to keep our naming rights, and got tons of practically free publicity, but because we have this huge release coming out in November called Skyrim, so we're going to let you keep the naming rights, even though we won, as an act of goodwill towards all.

No, instead, it's to court they go. This will only leave a bad taste in the mouth of gamers, almost all of whom have some kind of soft-spot for the underdog Mojang, especially Notch and his hat fetish.  Opportunity of goodwill is slipping away, Bethesda - it's time to reach out and grab it.

On Scrolls, and scrolls.  Penny Arcade.

Finally, a thought: can you really hold a copyright or trademark on a word, like Scrolls?  If so, can God (or Moses, or whatever) sue Bethesda for ripping off the Dead Sea Scrolls?  I mean, there are dead things in Oblivion, and a sea, and - apparently - scrolls.