★ PEOPLES ★ MASTERTRONIC TO ACT AFTER PIRACY CLAIM (POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKLY) ★ |
| Mastertronic to act after piracy claim (Popular Computing Weekly) |
MASTERTRONIC was last week planning legal action against UK Software for piracy. According to Mastertronic spokeswoman Alison Beasley Crimebusters Inc, a recent release from UK, is "almost an exact copy" of Mastertronic's Spellbound. The Crimebusters inlay credits Harry Price with the programming, but Beasley claims that it has been only slightly modified from the Mastertronic program written by David Jones. "We've issued a very strong letter urging them to settle the matter now, and if they don't they'll be sorry. "It's beyond belief that they should rip off such a well known program." She finds it particularly annoying that the UK game retails at £6.90, while the Mastertronic original is, as usual, £1.99. Another of IJK's releases, Quest for Freedom, a £1.99 Electron game, is similar to Audiogenic's The Last of the Free, with even the wording on the inlay cards having a great deal in common. Henry Smithson of Audiogenic says that the game is his copyright, but won't decide what action to take before he's seen a copy. Audiogenic's programmer had sent an evaluation copy to IJK prior to signing with Audiogenic, but although he was paid £300 to rewrite four screens of it for the Electron for IJK, Smithson says he wasn't told it was to be released. "I'm not particularly worried," says Smithson. "It's tantamount to sharp practice to get somebody to write something then release it without telling them, but he (the programmer) isn't out of pocket, plus he's still got the Electron." PCW
|
