Collector Club
Ravensburger has defeated Upper Deck’s copyright allegations over Disney Lorcana, after a judge in the United States dismissed the claims against both Ravensburger and co-designer Ryan Miller.
This bitter legal dispute started back in the Summer of 2023 when execs at Upper Deck claimed the Disney Lorcana was a copy of its recently released TGC Rush of Ikorr, which was announced earlier this year.
The Court held that game mechanics are not copyrightable, stating that “copyright protects only the particular manner of an author’s expression in literary or artistic elements,” and that Upper Deck’s Version 2.6 rules “have no creative characters, narrative, plot, or themes” to render the non-protectable mechanics expressive.
The judge’s ruling ends the copyright dispute against the publisher, although the wider case is not fully concluded.
Still more to come with a further trial scheduled for November
While Ravensburger is no longer a defendant on copyright, Upper Deck’s breach-of-contract claim against Ryan Miller is scheduled to go to trial in November.
Miller previously freelanced in game design, including for Upper Deck, before joining Ravensburger full time in November 2020. Upper Deck alleges he took confidential designs from its in-development TCG, Rush of Ikorr, into Lorcana.
After losing on copyright, Upper Deck attempted to add misappropriation of trade secrets claims against Ravensburger, but the Court rejected those additional claims on 15th October.
Reaction from both sides of the legal dispute
Ravensburger’s lead counsel David A. Perez welcomed the decision, saying the Court concluded “no reasonable person could find copyright infringement.”
Upper Deck president Jason Masherah said the company disagrees with the decision, plans to appeal, will proceed with the remaining US claims, and will continue with a recently filed European lawsuit that it says offers stronger IP protections.
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