To pay or not to pay, that is the question.

Blizzard has won $6m in damages in the trial it brought against MDY earlier this year. In a nutshell, Blizzard brought a claim against MDY on the grounds that Glider, a software produced by MDY infringed the copyright of Blizzard in the World of Warcraft ('WoW').

The US District Court ruled that Glider did in fact break the terms of the licence which users of WoW agree to before playing WoW. Commentators have argued that the award of damages could have been more substantial if MDY did not succeed on some of the grounds it presented to the Courts. It remains to be seen whether MDY will appeal against the judgement. Readers of CyberPanda will remember the reservations advanced by CyberPanda in an earlier post on the legal reasoning used by the Courts to reach its ruling. These concerns are still very much present at the moment and in the view of CyberPanda, MDY should seriously consider appealing the ruling as the legal reasoning used to determine liability in this instance is very much overstretched and illogical.

The case is far from over as MDY is due to appear in court again at the start of 2009 when the Courts will rule whether or not has breached the provisions of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act and whether Mr Donnelly will have to pay the damages from his own pocket.

Disclaimer: The image used above is subject to the rights of its owner. Click here to view the image in its original context.