The jury trial between Destiny 2 Developer Bungie and rogue software developer and distributor AimJunkies began a legal battle on Monday, nearly three years after the lawsuit was filed in a Seattle court by Bungie lead attorney Jacob Dini. It’s been a long, complicated road to this point: AimJunkies, owned by Phoenix Digital Group, countersued Bungie in 2022, claiming the Sony company illegally accessed James May’s computer and his copyrighted material. Then, in 2023, parts of the lawsuit – anti-circumvention and human trafficking – were settled in arbitration, with Bungie winning $4.3 million. Months later, AimJunkies appealed the decision. on the grounds that the referee “obviously disregarded some rules when making his decision”..” This appeal is ongoing. This week, Bungie and AimJunkies are in court to settle claims that AimJunkies infringed Bungie’s copyright.
Opening statements began Monday after eight jurors were selected. It is probably the first time that a video game fraud lawsuit has reached this far in court, they say Lawyers who spoke to Game File. The fact is that fraud is not specifically against U.S. law. The arbitrator found that AimJunkies violated the anti-circumvention rules of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by circumventing Bungie’s security measures And
Bungie’s lawyers blame one of the defendants, James May, for the alleged hacking attack Destiny 2 According to court documents, the company allegedly copied its code to create the fraud software sold by AimJunkies. Bungie said May split the revenue with Phoenix Digital’s Jeffrey Conway and Jordan Green. Bungie reportedly found records showing Phoenix Digital paid May “more than $700,000 for its work,” Bungie attorney William C. Rava said in opening statements. as reported by Law360. However, sales records provided by Phoenix Digital only show sales of $43,000. Bungie’s lawyers claim the company deleted cryptocurrencies and other transactions, which is why they are asking the jury to consider “evidence theft,” according to court documents. That means Bungie’s lawyers are asking jurors to assume that the defendants destroyed evidence that could incriminate them.
The evidence that Bungie says was deleted allegedly includes forum messages, cheat software records and sales information. Bungie claims that May “wiped four hard drives.” [May] alleges that Bungie improperly accessed it in connection with this lawsuit.” Phoenix Digital’s lawyers do not want Bungie to be allowed to ask the jury to consider this, their own filings say.
Additionally, Bungie told the jury several other confusing details, such as that of Phoenix Digital alleged sale of AimJunkies for 7,000 Bitcoins, valued at more than $480 million, to a company called Blome Entertainment in 2022. Phoenix Digital founder David Schaefer told Bungie’s lawyers that he prepared the sale press release to see how Bungie “walks around in circles looking like idiots.” (Phoenix Digital was ordered to pay Bungie $5,000 plus legal fees “as punishment for Schaefer’s harassing and unprofessional conduct” in a March 2023 deposition, according to court documents.)
On the side of Phoenix Digital and AimJunkies, lawyer Philip P. Mann said in his opening statement that May did not create this Destiny 2 cheat, and that the Destiny 2 According to Law360, the manufacturer subjected Schaefer to a 16-hour interrogation as part of a “discovery campaign to find out who Bungie believes is behind this international conspiracy to develop cheats.” Mann said Bungie doesn’t have much evidence. Mann added that the lawsuit essentially put Phoenix Digital out of business and May out of a job, while Bungie takes aim at the alleged $10,000 profit the company made Destiny 2 Cheat software – which suggests that this is a David versus Goliath scenario.
Mann’s argument centers on the fact that cheating is not illegal and that there was no copyright infringement by the cheaters because May didn’t even make the cheats – AimJunkies.com is a cheat marketplace, the lawyer said, not a cheat creation Company. Phoenix Digital also claims that May is not an employee of the company, but just another person selling cheats – crucially, not Destiny 2
For example, the cheat software in question allows players to see through walls and see where their opponent is, giving the cheating partner an advantage. There are also cheats, for example to be able to aim better or reduce the recoil of a weapon. Again, it’s not necessarily illegal to cheat in a video game – although Bungie argues that it is a violation Destiny 2‘s terms of use also for the player – but it Is It is illegal for a cheat maker to use copyrighted code to create the cheat software. It’s an argument that Bungie and its lawyers are familiar with – Bungie has sued numerous fraudulent software developers and sellers in recent years. Most of the time it is like that Wins through late payment or settlement before legal proceedings take place.
The trial resumed Tuesday at 9 a.m. PDT and is expected to continue throughout the week. Although the lawsuit will resolve the copyright issue, Bungie and AimJunkies will also have to resolve the arbitration complaint before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at a later date. On appeal, man describes This step is the first instance of a company “actually defending itself against Bungie and seeking a decision on the matter as to whether ‘cheating’ in computer games is illegal in the absence of an actual infringement and no existing intellectual property right.” The The appeal is currently being reviewed for a hearing in a Portland, Oregon court in August or September. Polygon has reached out to Bungie and Phoenix Digital’s lawyers, as well as AimJunkies, for comment.