Bungie was served a bit of a loss this week in its ongoing legal war against cheat makers and sellers. On Wednesday, a federal judge dismissed Bungie’s copyright infringement claims against website AimJunkies while agreeing with the cheat seller’s legal defense that the Destiny publisher’s other, non-trademark-related claims should skip the court and be resolved via arbitration. However, this isn’t the end of the case.
As reported by TorrentFreak, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly has sided with AimJunkies and its legal team and dismissed Bungie’s copyright infringement claims against the site after the Destiny maker failed to show that AimJunkies had actually copied anything.
“Notably, Bungie has not pleaded any facts explaining how the cheat software constitutes an unauthorized copy of any of the copyrighted works identified in the complaint,” wrote Judge Zilly. “Bungie’s complaint must contain more than a ‘formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action.’”
Bungie will be allowed to fix its copyright claim and add more evidence, but at least for the time being the judge has dismissed it entirely.
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Judge Zilly similarly agreed with AimJunkies in regard to many other claims in Bungie’s lawsuit regarding breach of contract, tortious interference, and unjust enrichment. The judge referred all non-trademark claims to arbitration, which is in line with Bungie’s own License Agreement. That agreement explained that aside from copyright and trademark disputes, all other legal conflicts should be resolved by mandatory arbitration. Last year, AimJunkies argued against much of Bungie’s lawsuit and pointed toward the agreement’s mandatory arbitration clause as part of its defense. Now, it seems that Judge Zilly sides with the cheat sellers, suggesting both parties find a solution to the non-trademark and copyright disputes outside of court.
Kotaku contacted Bungie about the recent dismissals and Judge Zilly’s decisions.
However, while AimJunkies might be pleased with these rulings and dismissals, the case isn’t over. Bungie’s claims that the site violated trademark laws were left intact, with the judge agreeing that Bungie’s other accusations are “sufficiently stated” and that the case can go ahead based on the remaining allegations. Those other claims include trademark violations and false origin claims.
AimJunkies reportedly told TorrentFreak that it’s not commenting on the matter just yet. However, the site’s owner did explain that they are in the final stages of selling the company to a group of investors in Ukraine.
