Tim Langdell Loses to Future Publishing

By: Derek Yu

On: June 16th, 2011

Rock, Paper, Shotgun’s John Walker has written a fascinating summary of the case that Future Publishing, the publishers of Edge Magazine, had brought against the notorious trademark troll Tim Langdell and his company Edge Interactive Media. Last year, Langdell was stripped of his trademark “edge” in a battle with Electronic Arts.

And to think, it all started with this little quote from iOS game developer Mobigame, published on the mobile gaming site FingerGaming:

We have legal issues with a man named Tim Langdell, says Mobigame’s David Papazian. If you already asked why Soul Edge (the Namco game) was called Soul Blade and later Soulcalibur in the US, you have your answer.

Posted in Community | Tags: TimLangdell

http://twitter.com/celluloseman Evan Balster

All right. This guy is a sociopath. 'Nough said.

(remember when he showed up at Gamma IV?)
http://twitter.com/samuraidan Dan MacDonald

And there was much rejoicing and some pitying.
http://s.hryx.net/ hryx

Yep. I ran the door at Gamma IV. When I handed his big face his drink tickets, I had to stop myself from giggling about his presence.
DragonSix

Does that mean it doesn't own edge anymore?
Tiamat_2

LOl at the “it” in the last comment
Phubans

I don't know about the rest of your readers, but I come here for news on indie games, not tabloid-grade gossip delivered with a giggle and wink about “game industry celebrities” and their gaffs. This post looks and reads more like a forum topic and lacks consistency with anything else ever posted on the front page. Worse, this is personally insulting since you never posted about the game I made that was made exclusively FOR the TIGSource community. Talk about adding insult to injury…
Phubans

But wait, this isn't about my personal feelings; I really don't think this kind of post is fit for the front page of TIGSource. What intelligent or constructive dialog were you even hoping to incite with this? What part of this post gives me knowledge or anticipation for an upcoming or already released indie game? In fact, how does this relate to indie games at all? If it does, then you should have made that clear in your post up there, because I'm not the kind of person that wastes my time educating myself in the lives of others. I only summarily know who Tim Langdell is, but other than that, I couldn't give two shits.

This kind of post is just an outlet for people to spread more gossip and hate about someone while having a nerd triumph and some kind of pseudo-feeling of camaraderie “OMG WE DID IT!!1 ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE INDIEZ!112 LOL *MONOCLE POP!*

Sorry Derek, it just ain't right.
Guest

@88672589cc7f0a4a3e5196bd59f07a0e:disqus
I have never heard about Tim Langdel before, so yeah it was an nice to research. And the interesting thing here is not Tim Langdel himself (and the gossip around him): The point here is that the law “allows” such incidents. There is nothing wrong with pointing out problems in our society…
if all you see is gossip… i'm sorry dude
Eiyukabe

” In fact, how does this relate to indie games at all?”

Phubans you may have a point about this topic not being fit for the front page (or you may not, I generally stick to the forums and don't have any idea what front page expectations have evolved to be). However, I can assure you this news is relevant to the indie scene because Tim Langdell sued indie developers who could not defend themselves for trademark violation (which the courts have since found to be faulty claims since Langdell hasn't done anything meaningful with said trademark in years, if ever).
I agree with 'Guest with black outline of face': it is important and kind of our duty to be educated about such legal flaws so we can better prepare ourselves in case we are in such a situation, or even better discuss ways such abuses can be fixed and present our ideas to lawmakers. For example, Langdell's cases set an interesting precedent for trademark squatting that can encourage other indies to defend themselves in the future if similar squatters start bullying them.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QXVSPVTHV5K52PWUFRBEQ52354 grcgigb yzdfa

That's a little extreme and insane. In all seriousness and reality, it's just a paragraph of text on a front page of an independent gaming blog. This isn't the NY Times or CNN or whatever. It's about video games. Nobody here is doing any thing of what you described in the last paragraph and it's clear that there are people who care about this news. In a week it will be off of the front page and you can go back to being not mad.
rabbitjunk

In case you haven't been paying attention to the current state of American society regarding such things as copyrights and trademarks – you might be surprised to know that they quickly reaching a deafening cacophony of parasitic greed and ridiculousness that affects content creators in a very real and problematic way.

Considering that many developers read this blog, your rage is misplaced and silly.
T.I.

Tim Langdell has been a thorn in the games industry's side since the
'80s. He's harassed all sorts of folks, from bigger publishers to indies
to games mags. Read the Rock, Paper, Shotgun article linked above —
this little post is linking to that article rather than rehashing the
whole affair. This story an undeniable impact on those indie folk who have
been bullied by Langdell in the past.

And you complain about professionalism at the same time you complain
about your own little game being snubbed? I smell entitlement.
Phubans

Sorry, the article just seemed out of place when I come here expecting to read about games, not people. If I sounded harsh I apologize; I wrote that prior to having my morning cigarette. If the article was more clear on his association with indie games, then I probably wouldn't have been as put off by it. It's just a shame that there's so many indie games deserving to be posted here but something like this would take priority over them.
SirNiko

This was posted on the front page because Derek Yu has been acting as an anti-Langdell champion ever since Langdell attacked Indie developer Mobigames over their title “Edge” well over a year ago. After Derek constructed a rather stylish page that combined all the known research about Tim Langdell and his harassment of developers over the years, the Chaos Edge blog took up the torch and Derek's direct involvement was no longer needed.

It's worth noting that Derek's webpage and research were referenced several times by Electronic Arts when they successfully attacked Langdell to discontinue his oft-abused trademarks. Derek's involvement (as well as numerous TIGers who contributed with independent research) was certainly a major contributor to stopping Langdell's attacks against Indie developers like Mobigames.

The reason this appeared on the front page is because Derek Yu participated directly in this matter and it is of specific interest to TIGSource regulars who contributed to this effort in the recent past. The knowledge that those in the game industry who were hurt by Langdell are finally gaining freedom from his endless litigation is a sweet relief from the horror stories we previously endured during the Mobigames trial.
heavystylus

Hooray! This means that I can release the new C64 cartridge game me, Smila (Ovine) and TMR have been working on (Edge Grinder) without fear of a lawsuit ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
ZarathustrA

My god, Phubans, you're an idiot.
rinkuhero

i disagree with phubans that this should not have been posted here but i agree with him that derek should have provided more context as to who langdell is and how he's related to indie games rather than assuming that everyone is up on the langdell story, because phubans' reaction is understandable provided someone has no idea that langdell sued an indie game developer or that he was on the board of directors of the IGDA and was forced to retire partially because of tigsource's efforts
Tiamat_2

I'll make a game called Edge Mc Edge, the Edge sharpener from Edgeville's edge of town!
http://profiles.google.com/negispringfieldczar Greg Morton

Ayn Rand weeps for the oppressed trademark and patent trolls everywhere.
Haberdasher

Phubans, please get out of your own ass and take grcgigb's comment to heart
Phubans

I agree, I apologize again for bitching. Sorry Derek.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QXVSPVTHV5K52PWUFRBEQ52354 grcgigb yzdfa

On a lighter note, I love when someone types out my display name in any kind of seriousness, haha.
TheLoveRobot

Ding dong the witch is dead, or at least continues to melt.
Some Guy

U2 is safe for another day.
http://twitter.com/celluloseman Evan Balster

[Forgot to press 'post' last night, so all these points have already been made. But what the hell.]

It's probably also worth pointing out that TIGSource played a meaningful role in the Langdell fiasco, heightening awareness and acting as one of the first compilation points for the story. These reports, while they might not be as productive as their predecessors, constitute a continuation or, more aptly, a closure.
Langdell made his living as a bully, and “we” helped put a stop to it. Now not only is he unable to do that kind of thing, but the whole framework of dishonesty and legal exploitation he constructed is falling apart. Even if most of us played no greater part than that of a tabloid reader, our sentiments were aligned and our goals were met. This is the evidence of that.

But definitely agreed that we should keep up this run of frequent game posting!
st33d

I've made a ton of games that never made front page.

But instead of complaining, I just make more games :P
Workot

derek why don't you love me any more

i made a game maker game
it's like an nes game

it's about how much i love you

please come back to me derek, i miss the way you used to make me feel, like i wasn't an embarrassing talentless leech

help me justify my worthless existence or else i may have to get very, very angry on the internet
Rob

Better an embarrassing talentless leech than an anonymous coward. Would be interesting to know what you've made, but I doubt it's anything of value if anything at all.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000300182950 Xavier Henneberg

Haven't i seen you on terraria forums?!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000300182950 Xavier Henneberg

I've seen you on the terraria forums before.
Phubans

Rob, I always knew there were people like you out there. Do you have any interest in caressing my body of work? I'll let you touch me all over, and all you need do is vilify my talent on the internet.

Since, like me, you believe the most important aspect of discourse on the internet is full disclosure of personal information, please respond to this comment with your work and home address, phone number, and whatever 'things of value' you believe you have contributed to the world.

Oh, you must also wear this bag on your head, and answer to the name 'Derek' when I beckon.
Ekt

bestest
Squiz

It relates to Indie Games because Mr Langdell halted more than one indie company from selling games because of the word Edge that appeared in the titles.

Do try to keep up.
Svetob

Phubans, you're a little baby.

For the record I love seeing smug assholes getting exposed and completely shut down. The judge pointing out EVERY SINGLE LIE by Langdell is ultimate justice. It's a wonder he's not being tried for perjury in court.