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PUBG Maker Sues Apple and Google for Not Removing Clone Apps

Nuvi said:
This is funny… You guys know what Epic games (Fortnite), Bluehole (PUBG) and Garena (Free Fire) have in common? They are all Tencent Holdings Limited companies. Yep, so Chinese giant which is major Epic owner (Fortnite), has large ownership of PUBG and Garena Free Fire too. PUBG can’t really go after Garena because that would be like dog chasing after its own tail, they decide to sue Apple and Google.
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Yup. Hence why Bluhole dropped their Fortnite lawsuit without explanation and Greene made statements that he didn't want to 'limit the genre' by asserting ownership over the gameplay. So yeah, I am sure Bluehole going after Apple has absolutely nothing, not a vertical mattress of the tragus and antihelix, to do with Fortnite.
 
With all of the applications in the store, how could Apple reasonably ensure that no two games are "too similar"? If some reviewer had never heard of or played PUBG, and then "Free Fire" comes across their desk, how would they know it was a clone? Genuinely curious as to the expected solution here. The only thing I can think of would be filing a complaint and then the complaint getting reviewed. Is that already a thing? (I really don't know how the store works.)
 
I'm a little lost as to what the standing is for including Apple and Google in the suit.

It isn't clear (to me, at least) that Apple and/or Google were made aware that there was a potentially infringing app on their store(s). How can they hold Apple and Google liable for that (again, assuming they were unaware -- if they had been told it was infringing and didn't even investigate, that's a different issue)?

Are Apple and Google's reviewers expected to be experts in all applications and games so as to know that the game/app they're reviewing may be infringing on another?
 
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kc9hzn said:
Right, it’s a bit of a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation for Apple. Being more proactive at removing or blocking clone apps makes it more likely that they’d run into some of the same abuse YouTube’s ContentID (and human reviewed copyright claim) system experiences (false claims of ownership, uploads of songs using permissively licensed samples*, use of copyright measures to silence criticism, lack of protections for fair use), on top of inevitable developer complaints that would result in increased regulatory demand. With a more laissez-faire by default approach, they open themselves up to lawsuits like this one.

* Think songs that sample the so-called YouTube Audio Library, then get uploaded to ContentID, where the uploader goes on retroactively to claim monetization on all users of the original track.
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True, and in this scenario it's even more complicated than ContentID. With ContentID it's pretty much a binary question of whether a clip is infringing according to Google's algorithms. But with something like this Apple will need an Army of lawyers to determine what's considered infringement or just similarity for every single app. Even then it'll probably still spawn a lot of lawsuits. Much cheaper this way and the most Apple will end up losing is probably $20-30 million (which is doubtful since it'll probably end in a settlement) plus some lawyer fees.
 
21/12 date to now won’t be much money, but that should be all they’re entitled to. PUBG is pretty rubbish tho. Glad everyone else jumped on board and improved the concept.

Top eBay hint — download Free Fire now and then sell your iphone with it for $$$ when it’s removed from the app store. You know it makes sense ? #flappybird #fortnite
 
Some at Apple forums: Apple can do no wrong.

Some at Google forums: Google can do no wrong.

Lawyers: Yeah, everyone but us is qualified to handle this on the internet.
 
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Here’s one area where Apple has really dropped the ball on and I hope they do get a slap on the wrist. It’s also a strong counter argument for an exclusive App Store. Yeah, sure, it likely wouldn’t be better with an independent App Store, but of one the main argument by Apple as to why theirs should be the only one, is that it’s curated and trustworthy. It’s clearly not.
 
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Relentless Power said:
All these developer law suits is becoming the norm it seems. From my perspective, with these developers, it seems it’s not so much about the ethical part of ‘Righting the wrong’, rather, ‘How much money can we get…’.
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While there's some truth to your opinion, it ignores the fact that clones are a big problem in the App Store and Apple/Google are doing jack s**t about it.
 
Jeaz said:
Here’s one area where Apple has really dropped the ball on and I hope they do get a slap on the wrist. It’s also a strong counter argument for an exclusive App Store. Yeah, sure, it likely wouldn’t be better with an independent App Store, but of one the main argument by Apple as to why theirs should be the only one, is that it’s curated and trustworthy. It’s clearly not.
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Well said.

Apple is trying to have it both ways - claim how exclusive control of the App Store is good for everyone but simultaneously being completely asleep at the wheel when it comes to clones.

Apple is bringing some serious wrath upon itself with its profit maximizing approach to running the App Store (so not worth it, Tim) and they deserve whatever spanking they're going to get for it.
 
Lol at all the trolls hating on "Timmy" when they're probably the same people who flipped their lids when Apple sued Samsung etc for copying the iPhone. Android was "inspired" by the iPhone the same way all Battle Royale games are "inspired" by PUBG. PUBG was so innovative that the mechanics have become its own genre.

Free Fire is not a PUBG CLONE like the Wordle clones. PUBG is never mentioned anywhere in Free Fire, and it doesn't try to trick users into thinking they're actually playing PUBG. Apple has no basis to pull Free Fire from the App Store, unless the game is proven to be infringing in court.

Maybe ID should start suing every first person shooter for copying Doom. And Nintendo....geez they could sue the whole industry due to how influential their games have been. Nintendos contributions are endless. "Metroidvanias" are all Metroid games....I mean its right there in the name of the genre. You don't see Nintendo giving out copyright lawsuits for every single indie dev that mentions "Metroidvania."

Krafton should just be proud of how influential their game design has been. It has been a while since a new genre has been coined. Suing everyone that borrows your game design is never going to work, and it just makes them look bad/desperate. Not to mention they won't have any friends in the industry. Krafton relies on Unreal Engine, while Fortnite was the first PUBG imitator.
 
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Analog Kid said:
Here’s one I hope succeeds. Don’t care about this game or its maker, but I’m sick and tired of trying to figure out which of every app is the real deal.

I suspect it’s going to be a matter of “where’s the line” though— is it a “copy”, or is it building on and improving an earlier concept. It’s really hard to filter garbage based on an abstract measure.
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Who cares which game came first or from your preferred developer or whatever “real deal” means? The best game is the one you like to play the most. All games are borrowing (stealing) from previous releases so reward the best game, not the one who got to market first.
 
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Jeaz said:
Here’s one area where Apple has really dropped the ball on and I hope they do get a slap on the wrist. It’s also a strong counter argument for an exclusive App Store. Yeah, sure, it likely wouldn’t be better with an independent App Store, but of one the main argument by Apple as to why theirs should be the only one, is that it’s curated and trustworthy. It’s clearly not.
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I think you are muddling issues. Curated and trustworthy doesn’t necessarily mean ‘free from clones’. The clone game might work perfectly, play beautifully and have open and transparent IAPs. It is therefore curated and trustworthy because Apple have checked that the game works and made sure that any costs are clearly listed. It’s for a court of law to decide whether a game has infringed on anything legally protected, not Apple.
 
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And ID Software should sue everyone for copying 1st person shooters.
****ing lawyers and their stupid ****. All action games are more or less the same.
 
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Is copying gameplay even illegal? If they lifted assets and/or had a deceptive name, maybe. But the way they describe the lawsuit it sounds like lawyers justifying their existence instead.
 
LawJolla said:
As an IP attorney, they're on solid ground here if the games are substantially similar in look and feel.

Bethesda won a nice settlement against Warner Brothers for "stealing" Fallout Shelter for their Westworld game.

If Apple/Google are knowingly profiting from an infringing product, they are liable vicariously.
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So PUBG can file against Epic for Fortnite since is a straight up rip off of PUBG?
 
I think it's tough to flag similar software as ilegal. People could argue that most operating systems are copycats, look at iOS and Android similarities... Even in the games industry there are so many games that copy a core mechanic and are not ilegal... Sony's battle royale game is clearly an Smash Bros copy and no one complains about it. Windows, Mac & linux distros share a lot of similarities too and you can't flag them as infringing copyright
 
Clones are never good. But it is a widespread problem. Also another legal trouble for Apple with this lawsuit.
 
LawJolla said:
As an IP attorney, they're on solid ground here if the games are substantially similar in look and feel.

Bethesda won a nice settlement against Warner Brothers for "stealing" Fallout Shelter for their Westworld game.

If Apple/Google are knowingly profiting from an infringing product, they are liable vicariously.
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Then you surely know you can't own a copyright on gameplay, that gameplay is not the same as "look and feel", and a settlement is not the same as being "on solid ground" (you settle if you can't win your case, or if it's cheaper - it says very little, if anything, about merit), and that the Fallout Shelter case was about using source code, not "look and feel".

Polygon reported as follows:

Bethesda said in its suit that Behaviour uses “the same copyrighted computer code created for Fallout Shelter in Westworld,” alleging that a bug evident in an early version of Fallout Shelter (which was later fixed) also appears in Westworld. Bethesda alleges the companies “copied Fallout Shelter’s features and then made cosmetic modifications for Westworld’s ‘western’ theme.”
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The PUBG case is a cash-grab by a company which can't earn money by competing. PUBG kind of has a history of that, if memory serves. Anyway, this is a copyright troll lawsuit - they are hoping Apple et al will go for an easy settlement.
 
2 questions

1- Can you copyright an idea?

2- Why are there 100M people playing this game instead of PUBG when both are free?
 
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