About a month ago, we reported that Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise, along with Gametrailers, was sued by author John Beiswenger who claims that the game’s storyline and elements of it was taken from his novel, Link. As we have yet to read the book ourselves, we can’t really attest to whether his claims are valid. However the good news for fans of the franchise is that Beiswenger appears to have dropped the lawsuit against Ubisoft, although he has reportedly settled with Gametrailers under undisclosed terms. So what’s with the voluntary dismissal? Claiming that it was just too expensive to continue the legal battle, Beiswenger released a statement saying:
“I filed the Complaint and Motion for Preliminary Injunction in federal court because I believe authors should vigorously defend their rights in their creative works; otherwise, the laws protecting them simply have no purpose […] Regrettably, the resources required to defend those rights are unavailable to many individual creators. As a result, rampant infringement is occurring with impunity.”
For those unaware, Beiswenger was seeking up to $5.25 million in damages and the possibility of an injunction. Before fans and Ubisoft can breathe a sign of relief, it should be noted at Beiswenger filed for the dismissal “without prejudice”, which means that he will be able to pick up where he left off in the future should he decide to.
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