League of Epic Heroes removed from App Store as dev admits copyright infringement

One of the downsides of the fast moving app culture smartphones has cultured seems to be the ease at which successful titles can be cloned.

Following up recent controversy surrounding Rope Cut on Android – a game that looked suspiciously similar to Cut the Rope – and the launch of Capcom's MaXplosion, believed by many to closely resemble Twisted Pixel's 'Splosion Man, the latest title to steal the headlines is League of Epic Heroes.

The game, developed by Lazy Peon Games, has been removed from sale from the App Store, following an admission by studio head Eric Farraro that it infringes on PC RPG Desktop Dungeons.

Farraro had previously admitted taking inspiration from QFC Design's game, but claimed that his game "violates no law, and that QCF does not have a valid legal claim".

However, following its removal, Farraro emailed QCF to let them know of his decision.

"Just wanted to let you know that as of today, I've removed League of Epic Heroes for sale in all countries, following the copyright infringement notice I received from your lawyer," he said.

"I apologise for all the issues this has caused, and wish you best of luck on your IGF nomination. Looking forward to the full version of Desktop Dungeons on iPhone."

However, while it would appear the issue has now been resolved, QCF points to the sales it now stands to lose when Desktop Dungeons finally appears on the App Store.

In the studio's view, first mover advantage should not be underestimated – even when said first mover is no longer available.

"We now have to deal with the fact that there are people out there who have seen League of Epic Hereoes before they were even aware of Desktop Dungeons," said QCF founder Danny Day, in a detailed and interesting post entitled, "So wait, are we douchebags now?"

"Yes, this is partly our fault - for not marketing to a user-base we didn't have a product for yet, I guess - but now we have to conquer that odd first-adopter loyalty just because someone else stole our work."

He added the studio had sent out an olive branch to Farraro by offering to help him to alter his title to keep it within a law – an offer he apparently declined.

Finding a solution, Day claims, isn't entirely straightforward.

"Ethics has been and always will be, reactive and highly context-based. Legal systems are sluggish and, out of necessity, rigidly codified. That means that the law is always behind in terms of what people find acceptable in new or rapidly changing fields," he concludes.

"For the sake of the games industry though, we hope that a classification for cloning that’s better than 'we’ll know it when we see it' emerges sooner rather than later.

"We're not saying that copyrights, patents and licensing systems are the way to go, in fact in many cases they're far from perfect. But arguing that precedence removes ethical responsibility is never something that any morally sound human being should tolerate.”

[source: QCF Design/Edge]