American science-fiction author John Beiswenger has taken Ubisoft to court over claims the publisher infringed some of his copyrights to create the Assassin’s Creed universe.
The complaint, which was filed earlier this week with the U.S. District Court for the middle district of Pennsylvania includes 11 counts of copyright infringement against Ubisoft. Beiswenger is apparently looking to halt any further infringement of his copyright and is demanding damages of up to $5.25 million.
According to his legal complaint, Link also touches on assassins and assassinations.
“If John Wilkes Booth fathered a child after he assassinated Lincoln, and we found a descendant alive today, we could place Booth at the scene and perhaps smell the gunpowder. Ancestral memories? As far back as you want,” reads an excerpt from the novel.
Additionally, the plaintiff says there are thematic similarities between his work and Ubisoft’s high-profile gaming series. In particular “spiritual and biblical tones, with references made to Jesus and God, the Garden of Eden, and forbidden fruit”, as well as the reliance on “accurate historical moments through their ancestors’ memories”.
The writer claims: “Ubisoft have directly copied, and contributorily infringed on the whole of Plaintiff’s copyrighted work” with the release of games, guides, comic book series and trailers.
Beiswenger wrote and published a novel titled Link in 2002 and the first Assassin’s Creed game dropped in 2007. Beiswenger is also trying to prevent the release of Assassin’s Creed III and all related products.
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The book sucked. The author paid money to get it published by self-publishing company. Look up book ratings and reviews 1/5 stars even on his own publishing site. Sounds more like he realized he sucks as an author and might have found a cheap way to not be in the poor house by making such allegations. "Oh, you're making a game based off of history that already happened? I already wrote a book on history that already happened. You're stealing my work." In that sense, couldn't the publisher of any history book in the past X amount of years make the same claim?
great point!…the guy evidently was jealous,also he just plainly wants money he doesn't want full rights to the things 'copied' by ubisoft he just wants a lot of money…that shows why he is doing this since he got bad sales from a bad self published book,i think what should happen in court is they should tell him that he has waited to long he is just a greedy selfish person and they should remove his book from the buying market.
tell that fuck to go have a second read cuz this shit is bullshit if the ook was published in 2002 and the game in 2007 ac would come earlier than that because as you can see it doesnt take that long to make aa video game and does he have charecters in tohse periods of time huh
He must be a Templar.
ahhhh i accidently clicked the thumbs down button and it wont let me change!!!!!!! Thumbs up!
ya so some assassins should go get him and his Templar ways
kill the fucking templar
that asshole has to shut up. Assassin's Creed excels Link in so many ways.
I SMELL TEMPLAR INFLUENCE!
One thing is obvious:That guy is a jealous idiot!!!
just another money hungry jerk… please get a life!! leave ubisoft alone and make money by working for it… stupid dbag better live in a hole if ac3 doesnt come out…. i dont think he even had an idea like the animus in his book
he can go and fuck himself
Stop Ac3? NO! Millions will be sad because of the greed of one man. Wasn't that what the series is about?
Does anyone else think this guy is a retard, because you made a crappy book in 2002 you think that a game made in 2007 stole your idea, tht is stupid and come on does anyone nt realize that there is nothing original anymore, this guy can’t sue because of what he think
And this is just now happening , FAIL! if they really copyright infringed on anything this should have been released when the first AC came out again That guy is a Fail for now just noticing this!
if he made link in 2002 then why wait untill NOW to sue ubisoft?
You have a point.. he is just trying to stop assassin's creed 3, since he is jealous
because the little fuck is low on money, about to lose his house, and he just looked to see who he could sue really fast and how much do u guys bet that the little fuck has seen the game over the years i mean who hasen't been watching tv and seen an ac comm. come on?
plus,assassins creed is not the only game,movie,or book that has messed with history,and neither is link.theres thousands
Most gamers I know dont even read books I dont think ubisoft let alone the rest of the world have even heard of his shitty book. This guys just got his butt wet cause every one says he sucks as an author witch is true and plus thoughs "ideas" cant be stolen if so science would be sueing his ass for using genetic memories as a theme in the first place.. and come on saying they copied themes using jesus.. then the church should sue him or whatever.. this guys an idiot and if he holds up assassins creed 3 for a even a day im making a hidden blade and taking it to his throat… Rant complete… for now
Tss, don't worry guys! This jerk doesn't have enough influence to properly sue Ubisoft. Let alone halt the progress of AC3 or any other future games. Ubisoft would probably just buy the rights if they even NEED to.
Countless things have been "ripped off" by coincidence only, and this idiot writer thinks he stands a chance against Ubisoft of all companies.
He deserves a hidden blade in the back for even THINKING he can win this.
why didn't he come out early when the first game came out not 5 years later
Because the game franchise is far more popular and successful now, meaning he can sue for more money.
Another form of proof that there's no way this guy genuinely believes Ubisoft is ripping him off. He just wants money.
John Beiswenger doesn't even have a wikipedia page or any sort of biography on websites other than his own. That's how well-known he is. I bet the copyrights for that book of his aren't even worth a single dollar.
This bum doesn't stand a chance in court and Ubisoft will send him home with even less money than he already had. :P
We "the FANS" should sue this guy for trying to stop what's dear to us, and what all of us hard working looking for stress release through a game kind of people are waiting for all year. And might he succeed in his trial, there is only one thing we ASSASSIN'S can do to a TEMPLAR……………..(not a threat…….a warning)
has he tried to slap god with a law suit (sorry for the bad spelling) then? god may have plaigerized his ideas about the creation of this whole planet! who does he think he is? hope he gets laughed out of court!
Why he waited so long to sue AC.? It happens to all the great creations all over the world. when something get popular some nutjobs saying its copied from their work. I think hes a Templar too :D and he'll really deserve the taste of a hidden blade if he stopped ACIII…
I wonder if he's gonna sue Bethesda as well for making Dishonored :P
Definitely a Templar…
'The statute of limitations for civil copyright infringement is three years from when the infringement is discovered, or should have been discovered with reasonable diligence.'
This guy waited 5 years to sue Ubisoft, 'reasonable diligence' would have been to sue after the first game was released. The series is among the most popular, there's no reason to sue Ubisoft other than wanting some money to make up for his failed writing career.
templar scum
if AC3 gets cancelled because of him, millions of AC fans will hunt him down >:D hahahahah >:D
1.get his address
2.assassinate him
3 throw his body infront of a train, must make it look like a suecide or place the body so the train driver doesnt see him on the rails
So I guess anybody that has themes around "Jesus and God, the Garden of Eden, and forbidden fruit" are infringing on this guys copyrights. This man needs a hidden blade to the throat.
nothing is true EVERYTHING is permitted! get over yourself
Actually if you think about it this guys claim was not put in for 10 years with AC landing in 2007 this so called book landing in 2002 and we are now in 2012… This guy has no claim, He in turn should be sued for also using biblical references since i believe the bible has been referenced in more games books and films than just assassins creed.
Beiswenger if your reading this.. UP YOURS you basically admitted using biblical references so we can rightly say YOU STOLE YOUR WORK FROM THE BIBLE. Go crawl back under whatever rock you've crawled from. Imbecile!! Also Ubisoft and Assassins Creed has a world wide fan base, think you can take us all on? Bring it on!
he must be a templar
Any updates on this yet?
We might get some news soon!
He can suck, coz we are gonna protest!!! :D
Who does this guy think he is? … If he stops ACIII, or even postponing the release of it, I can imagine SO many people wanting blood from him. This game series is multicultural, it doesn't have just a biblical reference to it. Hey Beiswenger, if you can see this, we all know that you're just pissed off that you're a terrible writer and nobody likes you. Go back to your little hole that you crawled out from. You can't stop MILLIONS of fans around the WORLD. I'd LOVE to see you try and shut down this franchise. Because if you do, so many people be wanting blood.
i think hes suing ubisolf because hes broke cause no one wants his book and wants to get famous again cause his book sucks balls i mean seriously why would he wait till the 5 AC game is coming out instead of doing this when the first one came out ive never even heard of this guy or his retarded book till this happened and why would they even copy a book ubisoft has alot of people to come up with ideas for games and if they copied his book you would think AC wouldve came out soon then 5 years later
So this dumb*** named Beiswenger is suing a multi-million dollar company with a worldwide fanbase because he's a crappy writer. He wants to STOP ACIII…which will enrage millions of fans who know exactly how to wield a hidden blade. Also, he's suing because of copyright infringements yet here's one of his quotes,
“My initial reaction was, ‘Hey, that’s neat, they liked the book,”’ Beiswenger told the newspaper. “But then when I found out how much they liked it and what the game was like, it didn’t relate to the book at all. I felt damaged at that point.”
Hmmm, "it didnt relate to the book at all". Assassins, i dont think we have anything to worry about. This guy wont last a day against Ubisoft.
HE WILL DIE -.-
someone plz tell him that just because your a little known writer that no one cares about does not mean u have to be the biggest ***hole in the world! also good luck bud u just pissed off a multi-billion dollar corporation and millions of people around the world. one last thing its sad u have to try to take down one of the best entertainment series just because your life is a boring epic fail!
It's funny how he waited till this game to start suing.
That retard can shove the Suing papers up his vagina
you can dis ubisoft, you can sue ubisoft, but you can't stop the release of ac3 you little fuck!
AC IS A MILLION TIMES EFFIN' BETTER THAN YOUR STUPID BOOK BEISWENGER!
smells like abstergo….
its funny how all the sudden the new assassin's creed is coming out and its about the american revolution and out of no where there's someone trying to sue them. is there something about the game that reveals too much or is it some dumb ass whos mad because his book sucked and assassins creed is just making money and has an on going franchise assassin's creed 1,2,brother hood and so on including the games for nitendo d.s and other games including a comic series and possibly a movie not the three part one.
assassinate him thenthrow him in a hay bail
Hey Lynette, would you try to sue me because I was going to say, "I hope he gets laughed out of court"?
This guy is Templar scum, and must be dealt with!
He's suing over the use of actual recordings of happenings throughout history? What an idiot. He has no copyright claims to any of this, as even the Masyaf Assassins actually existed. The Renaissance actually happened. The Revolutionary War in America (ACIII) ACTUALLY HAPPENED! The Holy Bible talks of the Apple of Eden, the Garden, all that shit. This is all stuff that existed before he was even alive. This lawsuit will get thrown out.
So he is trying to prevent us from seeing the truth. Typical templar! Where are the assassin recruits when you need them?
Copying ideas from the bible…? Using references to the Garden of Eden and Forbidden Fruit? MUST be copywrite, because a lousy author can TOTALLY claim copywrite on a work of fiction made for the masses… And he himself misses the fact that there's also NON-fruit related pieces of Eden… Bloody Hell…
Is he really saying that he put copyrights on biblical reference and ancestral lineage? If he really needsd to inflate his over inflated head a little more, then Ubisoft is the least of his worries.
I'm surprised this idiot hasn't sued the church for using“spiritual and biblical tones, with references made to Jesus and God, the Garden of Eden, and forbidden fruit”. The only reason this retarded templar dick is suing Ubisoft is because AC has become one of the most popular gaming series of the 21st century. I 'm sure he would have heard about it much sooner than 5 years from the release of the first game.
P.S. Fuck you John Beiswenger, Assassin's everywhere will hunt you down to protect the Creed. (and we probably won't say "Requiescat in Pace" either)
we must bring the thieves, warriors and assassins together to rid the world of this templar.
this guy is a complete idiot AC1 was in production well before it was released his claim is invalid and retarded he deserves to be hung from a palm tree by his foot for 30 years
I hope he wins so I get to listen to you twats whine for years
He dropped the lawsuit due to "expenses" but we all know the real reason is because he relized he is clearly not gonna win and the world would kill him if he went thru with it