UD vs. Konami Lawsuit

"They (UD) also accused Konami of failing to provide the legal support necessary to combat counterfitting" WOW. I cant belive this company. Since when is UD interested in "combatting counterfitting". I guess if its hurting the bottom line things happen. Gross, just gross. I am going to have a long, long think about my collection and the UD cards that are in it.
 
I was very confused by the bolded quote from the article -- especially in the context of the lawsuit.

Is UD blaming the victim for not doing enough to protect themselves from couterfitters -- including UD in this case? Or did UD want more legal support from Konami to stop itself from couterfitting? "But your Honour, they didn't do enough to deter us from committing a crime...."

Odd. Very odd.

FASTMAX said:
"They (UD) also accused Konami of failing to provide the legal support necessary to combat counterfitting" WOW. I cant belive this company. Since when is UD interested in "combatting counterfitting". I guess if its hurting the bottom line things happen. Gross, just gross. I am going to have a long, long think about my collection and the UD cards that are in it.
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lovely....glad i only own like 2 cards from them in my collection....not only is this gonna cost them $$$$$$$$$ it's gonna hurt there already poor rep....i'm just waiting for the news that they used fake memorabilia and autographs(cut signatures) in there cards...



Geoff
 
They've already used fake cuts in their cards. I think the company they purchased them from was bad. I'll give UD some slack here - they likely didn;t know the graphs were fake.

On the other hand: Muzz Patrick, Jack Adams and Henrietta Dandridge.
 
I never understood Yu-Gi-O, never will. This lawsuit will get settled. Money solves everything. I just like the fact that McWilliams was mentioned in the article shreading the evidence, lol.

I wonder if the NHL will be watching this? I know Dr. P and ITG will watch this carefully.

Moral of this lawsuit, dont bite the hand that feeds.
 
I want to know what made UD admit fault...I'm not surprised they did this in the least. If anything in "Card Sharks" is to be believed (and I have yet to see anything to say that it isn't), then it's not a stretch to imagine that they would reprint Konami's more rare and expensive cards to pad their bottom line.

This is a company who was using Ken Griffey, Jr. RCs and cases of UD French Hockey to pay folks off here and there. Tricky Ricky might be a very intelligent man, but greed seems to even him out. Good on you, Upper Deck. Maybe it is time that you guys go the way of the dinosaur. Can't wait to hear what your punishment is.

Here's hoping the good people that work there wind up in better places.
 
DXFlyers said:
I never understood Yu-Gi-O, never will. This lawsuit will get settled. Money solves everything. I just like the fact that McWilliams was mentioned in the article shreading the evidence, lol.

I wonder if the NHL will be watching this? I know Dr. P and ITG will watch this carefully.

Moral of this lawsuit, dont bite the hand that feeds.
Click to expand...

But how much does UD have left to cover these "costs". People who buy their hockey cards may see a spike in price to help pay for this lawsuit.
 
More info/opinions (including the entire article) on this subject on FCB, for whoever might be interested.

[Deleted the link - it only confuses the issue as those guys aren't getting the essence of the lawsuit]
 
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In order to win this lawsuit, please press up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A
 
The_IceBox said:
I may be mistaken, but I believe when a lawsuit reaches a conclusion, it is, in fact, news.
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Wayne, I'd actually read a fair bit about the lawsuit when it was first made public. The evidence - even sanitized for public consumption - was pretty damning.
 
I think McWilliam shredding evidence and the VP knowingly producing counterfeits is the best part. Just makes you wonder how many other shady things are done around that place. No integrity.
 
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quincy said:
Wayne, I'd actually read a fair bit about the lawsuit when it was first made public. The evidence - even sanitized for public consumption - was pretty damning.
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So had I. Doesn't mean everyone else had.

Is your take the same as mine, that this isn't just about where the cards were printed, but rather the distribution through Vintage? From what I gather, the rare cards were being put into clamshells with legitimate Yu Gi Oh! packs and sold at retail outlets.
 
Big Tall said:
Nah I only forgot the "start" :p
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no sir, there were 2 b/a at the end :P

back on topic though, I wonder what the punishment would be in this if upper deck is found in the wrong? Likely just a fine or $ owed to konami in the end? or do the courts have the power to stop them from producing any cards at all over something like this?
 
I did a quick search of the US Copyright Registry to see if Konami registered the copyrights. I found at least one for the actual cards, so I would assume if their attorneys filed for one set, they filed for all.

This means that Upper Deck is open to additional damages. Under US Copyright law, there are two measures of damages that the Plaintiff (copyright owner) can choose from. one is a measure of lost profits and damage to the business of the plaintiff, the other is statutory damages. These statutory damages increase significantly, up to $150,000 per violation, when the plaintiff can prove willful or knowing infringement.

The statute also allows for recovery of attorneys fees.

My guess, without seeing any of the filings in the case, is that Upper Deck admitted to the willful and knowing infringement to save substantial legals fees. If you read the article, it indicates that Konami was pursuing the lost profits measure of damages. This requires very costly surveys and audits.

One more thing to consider is depending on the copyrights that are held, each one of the individual cards may be a separate violation. Even if the number of violations is 10% of the total cards printed, that is 6,000 violations. Do the math, 6,000 violations at $150,000 per.

With the amount of game used memorabilia that Upper Deck has purchased and cut up but has not included in cards, I sure hope that they try to reach a settlement agreement and continue making cards. I would hate for the hobby to lose at that game used memorabilia.
 
webottew said:
I was very confused by the bolded quote from the article -- especially in the context of the lawsuit.

Is UD blaming the victim for not doing enough to protect themselves from couterfitters -- including UD in this case? Or did UD want more legal support from Konami to stop itself from couterfitting? "But your Honour, they didn't do enough to deter us from committing a crime...."

Odd. Very odd.
Click to expand...
Sort of like the Menendez Bros who murdered their parents throwing themselves on the mercy of the court by saying "but your Honor we're ORPHANS"

meatmancgy said:
Here's an analogy - it would be like UD printing counterfeit UD1 Young Gun rookie cards of Crosby, Ovy, Kane, Stamkos, etc., and selling them directly without providing the League or PA with their due fees.

Either way you look at it, it's bad poodoo.
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Or another analogy would be if UD photocopied sheets of sticker autographs and used them on cards.Whoops that's a concern I've had since they started sticker autos because copiers are just that good that you can't tell original from copy.

blindros88 said:
I did a quick search of the US Copyright Registry to see if Konami registered the copyrights. I found at least one for the actual cards, so I would assume if their attorneys filed for one set, they filed for all.

This means that Upper Deck is open to additional damages. Under US Copyright law, there are two measures of damages that the Plaintiff (copyright owner) can choose from. one is a measure of lost profits and damage to the business of the plaintiff, the other is statutory damages. These statutory damages increase significantly, up to $150,000 per violation, when the plaintiff can prove willful or knowing infringement.

The statute also allows for recovery of attorneys fees.

My guess, without seeing any of the filings in the case, is that Upper Deck admitted to the willful and knowing infringement to save substantial legals fees. If you read the article, it indicates that Konami was pursuing the lost profits measure of damages. This requires very costly surveys and audits.

One more thing to consider is depending on the copyrights that are held, each one of the individual cards may be a separate violation. Even if the number of violations is 10% of the total cards printed, that is 6,000 violations. Do the math, 6,000 violations at $150,000 per.

With the amount of game used memorabilia that Upper Deck has purchased and cut up but has not included in cards, I sure hope that they try to reach a settlement agreement and continue making cards. I would hate for the hobby to lose at that game used memorabilia.
Click to expand...

If those numbers are in the ball park it sounds like UD may have to file for bankrupcy protection to avoid paying the damages. That way Mc Dee would be able to live in the style he has grown accustomed to. They'd likely have to hand over the memorabilia to settle the damages or they could be sold at auction. Wow that would be some listing on Ebay.
The good news is that it could open up the "Exclusive" to new companies.
 
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