Shin Megami Tensei Imagine, the Shin Megami Tensei MMO, survived long after Atlus shut down the servers thanks to two fan groups, Rekuiemu and COMP_Hack, and now it turns out Atlus isn’t too happy about the effort. The creator of Persona is suing a group of fans over multiple cases of copyright infringement, including the Rekuiemu website and launcher created to allow players to access SMT Imagine and use an Atlus game without permission or change.
twitter user TuesdaySMT the first to publish litigation information and court documents (which were originally discovered by VGC). Atlus filed the lawsuit in December 2021, but on September 22, 2022, Atlus sent subpoena notices to the two involved parties, identified only as John Doe and Jane Doe in court documents, because Atlus and its representatives were unable to find the documents. Names. or official names. . even fan addresses running Requiem and COMP_Hack.
Atlus’ attorneys provided multiple screenshots of SMT Online and the Rekuiemu version of the game to show that they are identical, saying that Atlus’ proprietary rights extend to graphics, text, and any other assets associated with the game.
Atlus issued a DMCA notice and took down the site and the game. The publisher will also consider recovering damages up to $2,500 per violation and other damages as the court deems appropriate and attorneys’ fees. How many will ultimately be counted remains to be seen, given that Atlus pointed to individual screenshots as evidence of copyright infringement.
At the time of publication, there was no official word on whether the courts were able to identify John and Jane Doe, or what the next steps were for the Atlus investigation.
Litigation and updates are available on the CourtListener website along with all public documents, including the original Atlus lawsuit and subsequent complaints.
Source : PC Gamesn
