Zynga accused of copying EA’s “Sims Social” game

Intellectual property laws are important for businesses to take account of in order to avoid patent infringement lawsuits. Stealing products, ideas or services and using it under a different business model will likely lead to a legal dispute with the owner of the stolen information. However, by partnering with Phoenix business law attorneys, Arizona companies can protect their assets. Zynga Inc. may have needed the advice of business lawyers, as it found itself accused of copyright infringement.

Electronic Arts (EA) filed a lawsuit against Zynga, claiming that the company copied a major concept in one of its video games, according to Market Watch. Allegedly, "The Ville" game is too similar to EA's "Sims Social."

The plaintiffs claim that Zynga has copied the concepts of a number of games and made their entertainment products more successful than the original. This lawsuit puts more pressure on Zynga financially, as it has seen a 70 percent loss since its last IPO.

"Maxis isn't the first studio to claim that Zynga copied its creative product," Lucy Bradshaw, general manager of partnering company Maxis, wrote in a blog post. "Infringing a developer's copyright is not an acceptable practice in game development. By calling Zynga out on this illegal practice, we hope to have a secondary effect of protecting the rights of other creative studios who don't have the resources to protect themselves."

However, Eric Goldman, a journalist for Forbes, wrote that imitation in the game industry is standard practice and that this lawsuit could negatively impact the sector.

Despite Goldman's view, copyright infringement is a serious accusation. Businesses need to protect their copyrights and intellectual property and to ensure that they are not infringing on any other company's copyrights or intellectual property. Business attorneys in Phoenix can help provide this protection.

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