14 DAY TRIAL // Do you remember that Activision told us last week that it had won the legal battle against Genius and Numark, related to the DJ Hero videogame which it plans to release this year? Well, it seems that the publisher had not revealed the whole truth. Now, the two companies that sued are saying that they were the ones that prevailed in the hearing, with the source code developed by Studio 7 set to be returned to Genius.
Activision emphasized the fact that the judge said “There isn't any evidence against Activision. …There is no reason to restrain Activision from doing anything.” But the same judge also said that all the stuff which 7 Studio had created while being funded by Genius in order to develop Scratch could not remain in the possession of Activision, which acquired 7 Studio, and should be returned.
Judge James C. Chalfant, who presided over the hearing, said that “It is actually very straightforward. They hired you. They have terminated the deal. Their agreement requires return of materials." "No matter how you slice this banana, they are entitled to the work product back. I don't know why your client would want to continue working on a project for which they have been terminated.”
If 7 Studio gives the source code back, then Activision might have some problems related to DJ Hero. It seems that the company was relying on the code created by 7 Studio and on some of the technologies contained in it, which will no longer be accessible to them once Genius and Numark get it back.
There's one final hearing in the trial, which will take place in early May and which should settle the issue. Probably after the suit is done with, Activsion will make a public statement related to the way the development of DJ Hero has been affected.