Despite reports from Fallout fan site Duck and Cover that Bethesda’s copyright infringement suit against Interplay had been dropped, it has subsequently emerged that legal action is still very much ongoing.
Duck and Cover had quoted an ‘Interplay investor’ (who was perhaps hoping to briefly boost Interplay’s stock), as stating “Bethesda dropped their appeal of the lawsuit with Interplay and a secret deal was struck (maybe they will release the terms of the deal soon, probably so) … I’m assuming part of the deal was that Interplay drop their countersuit against Bethesda.”
This would have been great news for Interplay’s ‘Project V13,’ the MMO set in Fallout’s universe which the company was working on before Bethesda’s legal intervention.
However, a document has emerged which makes it clear that Bethesda has only dropped their appeal against an initial court ruling; one which allowed Interplay to continue to sell various titles from the Fallout series while legal action was ongoing.The document also confirms that Interplay’s counter-claim against Bethesda is alive and well, stating: “Interplay will continue to defend its rights and to pursue its Counter-Claims against Bethesda, for among other things, Breach of Contract and Declaratory Judgment and an award of damages, attorney fees and other relief.”Bethesda’s Pete Hines has also confirmed that the lawsuit is unresolved.All of which means Project V13 is, sadly, still on indefinite hold.
