-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Iron Maiden sues 3D Realms over "Ion Maiden" game
- Thread starter Accoun
- Start date
You realize the notion of the iron maiden predates the band by a century, right?
Like...none of these things completely on their own is going to cause someone to question it. All of it together? C'mon son.
Someone better tell the other games/movies that use that kind of cover to stop it.
You can't name your band name after an actual thing (medieval torture device) and then cry lawsuit when someone else references the actual thing. Dude, your band name isn't original. This is quite different than that lawsuit over some beer maker making "Guns N Rose," a homage that wouldn't exist if the band didn't. I watched the trailer and didn't see a bunch of band references or homages. Seems like in a vacuum, the product could conceivably been created if the metal band never existed.
It's nothing to do with the origin of the name and everything to do with the trademarks. Read my follow up message on the previous page.
I mean I could throw that "seeing the outcome you want" right back at you too. Each letter is are incredibly different except the I.
not even the same basic shape
Completely different. The blue letter is a basic shape without extrusions. The red n has an extrusion on the upper left, the joining line horizontal line is a straight 45 degree bar (2 angles on the blue equivalent), the right bar goes up pas the horizontal bar unlike the blue one and the bottom part of the right bar goes past the bottom of the left bar and the end itself is angled.
Same deal as the N. Clearly a different font with a different sihouette with the left extrusions, the bottom right extrusion and the cut upright part.
Not even worth discussing. There's nowhere near the same basic shape.
Same deal as A. It's a friggin triangle.
And again completely different font. A very much "full square" style with negative space for the middle branch for the blue letter. A standard 3 prongs for the red one with a slant on the bottom left.
One genuinely could have accidentally misspelled "iron maiden" as "ion maiden" and gone, whoa, hang on! That's fucking sweet! Let's make a science-fiction woman!
I'm not trying to argue that the devs finalized that name without knowing the rock band existed, though. And AFAIK the protagonist existed in a game prior to Ion Maiden, entitled "Bombshell"
Maybe? It's a play on words based on the torture device that the band chose to name themselves. Ion refers to Ion guns/Blasters from sci fi media and Maiden because the protagonist is a woman.
I'm the farthest thing from a legal expert you can imagine, but isn't there, like, protections for parody when it comes to things like the name being a jokey nod? And yeah the rest of their claims are an insane stretch.
Someone better tell the other games/movies that use that kind of cover to stop it.
I've already acknowledged that no single element alone, such as the artwork, would be enough to get me to think anything of it. It's the totality of the similarities that make the case.
And see, this is a pretty reasonable take or defense. Not the "YOU'RE IMAGINING THE SIMILARITIES ARGHRAGARGL."
My three stages of discovery when reading the OP:
1: There's gonna be an Iron Maiden game? Sweet!
2: Wait, the game isn't about Iron Maiden? Then why did they call it Iron Maiden? That IS really confusing. No wonder they're suing.
3: Ooohhhhh
So, given my initial reaction, I'm gonna have to go with the band on this one...
1: There's gonna be an Iron Maiden game? Sweet!
2: Wait, the game isn't about Iron Maiden? Then why did they call it Iron Maiden? That IS really confusing. No wonder they're suing.
3: Ooohhhhh
So, given my initial reaction, I'm gonna have to go with the band on this one...
Like...none of these things completely on their own is going to cause someone to question it. All of it together? C'mon son.
I feel like I'm fucking nuts because you seem super convinced these are similar yet I'm wondering how the fuck you came to that conclusion
Iron Maiden
Ion Maiden
Coca Cola
Coca Col
Both of the second names have a single letter change from the original trademarks.
If you think that is going to fly against marks that have been registered for decades I don't know what to tell you.
Ion Maiden
Coca Cola
Coca Col
Both of the second names have a single letter change from the original trademarks.
If you think that is going to fly against marks that have been registered for decades I don't know what to tell you.
That's a bogus example, there's no such thing as a Coco Cola outside of the product.
If Coco Cola took their name from something else then sure.
If this is a meta joke it's pretty good.
That's not how trademark law works. The name Mario existed before Mario Bros. Try getting away with making a Mario Brothas game.
Hm. Coca Cola is extremely unique, though. Basically two nonsense words slammed together to create a brand name. Taking out one letter just to skirt laws would be extremely blatant. Ion Maiden, on the other hand, is comprised of two real words, with an origin in a real historical device, that when modified still convey particular meanings and implications that tie into the product. I think this would give it intrinsic value.
But I'm not a lawyer. Or a judge.
The default Wikipedia page when you search for "iron maiden" is the torture device, not the band.
No case here.
No case here.
Someone call P!nk's lawyers, she's gonna clean up! Crayola better be nervous.
Just my opinion, but I don't feel that "the default result on a popular website" serves as good evidence.
Yes, they own a trademark to "Iron Maiden", not Ion Maiden. Different thing. The semblance is not enough when they're both based on a term from ages ago that has been constantly used.
Default wikipedia page when you search for Apple is for...apples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple
Clearly I can make a computer company named Appel and be fine.
See above.
Of course if the trademark is theirs, then they have the power to attempt a defense.
Sure, claim the name similarities, that is fair, but don't pretend the aesthetics of a video game are too much like the metal album cover aesthetics in your own game, you are 27 years late. This is a retro game aping Doom-Clones.
But what if there was a game called Apple: The Legend of Steve Jobs?
I pose this question sincerely, but is Ion Maiden really even known outside of a small sect of gaming enthusiasts? Surely this wasn't threatening the band that much. I think I only heard about this game once or twice through the Bombcast, and that was it.
The name is similar, but everything else is baseless, even when used in conjunction. The logo is not similar AT ALL, the art is NOT similar, the little yellow skull looks nothing like Eddie besides being the same color and Eddie isn't even used in Iron Maidens logo. And a characters name can be whatever it wants, even Iron Maidens founder. Looking at Ion Maiden as a whole there is only 1 similarity that maybe would cause people to do a double take and thats the name. No one is getting this shit confused, especially with them being on separate platforms.
The i's are exactly the same!!!Am I missing some sarcasm or something?
Popularity doesn't really factor in, though. Even if they make one dollar in violation of law, surely the Iron Maiden rock band is entitled to demand profit and/or damages?
The burden is of course proving they're violating law.
Realize before posting hot takes that if Iron Maiden didn't challenge this (which is a pretty obvious likeness to Iron Maiden) then the band could literally lose their copywrite and lose the name Iron Maiden.
This is just how laws work. Blame the system, not the people stuck using the system.
This is just how laws work. Blame the system, not the people stuck using the system.
It's called "Ion Maiden." No "r." Because it's a sci-fi game. Starring a woman. And it's brutal. Like the torture device.
Ok, I initially felt you were missing something unidentifiable before, but I'm fairly certain you're just intentionally being obtuse at this point.
Iron Maiden is a band and Ion Maiden is a video game. If this was about a band versus a band, then you might've been right.
Sure they do. But their evidences aren't convincing. A lot of elements they posed seem like either scènes à faire or misunderstood. The name resemblance, for example, doesn't sound all that intentional when the character technically debut in her previous game, Bombshell.
I'm genuinely trying to see how the hell those art seem similar. Anyway on topic I dont really think they have much of a case to sue them tbh.
Or I have an understanding of how trademark cases work?
Iron Maiden has an Iron Maiden branded game. Actually I think they have a few shitty games with their brand on it.
