"Lawsuit related to game copyright infringement filed by a global game company"

A global game company has received a ruling that it did not infringe copyright in a lawsuit filed against a domestic game company for copyright infringement and other issues. The global game company claimed copyright infringement based on the apparent feeling of similarity or the similarity of some expressions. In particular, the company made efforts to give the court the ‘feeling’ that the two games were similar through a video.

In response, the defendant analyzed each individual scene, proving that the specific expression methods of the two games were different and widely used in other games. At the same time, it thoroughly analyzed existing domestic rulings and papers to support its argument.

The court rejected all of the plaintiff's copyright infringement claims on the grounds that the expression methods of the two games were different or that they were expression methods already widely used in other games. This ruling has the significance of reconfirming the copyright infringement criteria for games in Korea's existing judgments.

(Tip) Cases where foreign companies file lawsuits claiming copyright infringement are increasing, and the direct and indirect damages are substantial. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully review copyright infringement issues with a game copyright expert from the time of game production to prevent disputes in advance.