RE: Remove PluginJewels from RockBox downloads immediately

Here is Daves reply to my question. I have not replied back to him yet.

----- Forwarded message from Dave Haas <dave@popcap.com> -----

Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 15:44:38 -0700
From: Dave Haas <dave@popcap.com>
To: Björn Stenberg <bjorn@haxx.se>
Cc: Rockbox development <rockbox-dev@cool.haxx.se>
Subject: RE: Remove PluginJewels from RockBox downloads immediately

Björn,

Regarding your question below, the gem graphics in the color image of
PluginJewels as seen at
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/pub/Main/PluginJewels/jewels... , are
identical to the graphics seen in versions of Bejeweled(R) for PalmOS,
PocketPC, or Windows Mobile, seen here:
http://www.astraware.com/products/bejeweled/palm/bejewele... . The screenshots are 100% identical, down to the gem placement on the game grid.

Now, if these color graphics do not actually appear in the versions of the
black-and-white and color versions of PluginJewels, then there is no
copyright violation here. However, if the screenshot above is representative
of the in-game graphics found in PluginJewels, then it is an obvious
copyright violation. If that is the case, it's obvious that someone on the
PluginJewels team ripped the graphics from one of the Astraware-licensed
versions of our game. If that is indeed the case, those graphics need to be
removed from the game, non-infringing gem art needs to be substituted for the
infringing gem art, and the screenshots reflecting our copyrighted works need
to be removed from Rockbox.com and all other affiliated sites. If it is not
the case that these graphics are found in Rockbox versions of PluginJewels,
please email me with assurances that these graphics do not appear in either
the black-and-white or color versions of PluginJewels and remove the
screenshot from Rockbox.com and all affiliated sites, so as not to create
confusion about the look-and-feel of PluginJewels compared to Bejeweled(r). 

The important thing here is that PopCap Games does not want any confusion in
the market as to whether the game was developed, published, or officially
licensed by by PopCap Games. This current situation with the gem graphics as
shown on Rockbox.com only perpetuates this confusion.

Best,
Dave


-----Original Message-----
From: Björn Stenberg [mailto:bjorn@haxx.se] 
Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2006 10:08 AM
To: Dave Haas
Cc: Rockbox development
Subject: Re: Remove PluginJewels from RockBox downloads immediately

You wrote:
> The game PluginJewels, for use on RockBox and available at 
> http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/PluginJewels, is a blatant 
> copyright violation of Bejeweled, the popular match-three game owned 
> by my company, PopCap Games, Inc., of Seattle, Washington, USA. I am 
> writing to you to demand that you remove PluginJewels from 
> www.rockbox.org and all other sites where users may download this game 
> for the Rockbox, no later than April 30, 2006. PopCap Games takes 
> seriously all copyright and trademark violations of our games and, if 
> necessary, we will enforce our rights to the fullest extent of the law.
> 
> Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I await your 
> response.

Hi Dave.

My name is Björn Stenberg. I am the founder and one of the leaders of the
Rockbox open source project. I am also the owner and administrator of the
main download site for Rockbox.

In the Rockbox project we take copyright very seriously. Therefore your mail
is confusing to me. To the best of my knowledge, the Jewels plugin in Rockbox
contains no program code, graphics, text or other material belonging to you
or your company. Hence I do not understand what it is you claim to be a
"blatant copyright violation".

Please specify in detail what material in our Jewels plugin you claim to hold
the copyright to.

--
Björn




----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
Björn