David Jaffe and Sony Sued for God of War Copyright Infringement

Sony Computer Entertainment America and creative director David Jaffe are being sued in California District Court for copyright infringement relating to their massively successful God of War franchise, reports GamePolitics. It looks like the idea of a ripped Spartan warrior isn’t as original as Jaffe might have thought.

Plaintiffs Jonathan Bissoon-Dath and Jennifer Barrette-Herzog say that they sent Sony original works, which center on a Greek warrior and surrounding mythology, prior to the 2005 release of Sony’s God of War. In the complaint, Bissoon-Dath and Barrette-Herzog find “unique and pervasive” similarities present in their creations and David Jaffe’s game.

The complaint names Bissoon-Dath as the author and creator of a screenplay called Olympiad along with a number of other related pieces; Barrette-Herzog created a map that was submitted with one of Bissoon-Dath’s creations entitled The Adventures of Owen: Owen’s Olympic Adventure.

Bissoon-Dath and Barrette-Herzog claim these works were sent to “agents who did business” with Sony, and in the case of the Olympiad screenplay, directly to an “affiliated Sony entity.”

God of War shipped in 2005, and was credited as the creation of David Jaffe.

The plaintiffs allege similarities of “plot, relationships among major characters, themes, settings, mood, pace and dialogue that are unique and pervasive,” and are seeking damages and profits related to the infringement of their work.

The response, filed on August 29 by lawyers representing Sony and Jaffe, denies that any element of God of War was taken from Bissoon-Dath and Barrette-Herzog’s work.

GamePolitics has both the complaint and response.

If it were true, (and I’m just cynical enough to think maybe) it at least makes sense that Jaffe would change the original name—Owen doesn’t quite carry the weight or war paint like a dude named Kratos.