Schedule Set to File Third Legal Complaint, Motion to Dismiss

NEW YORK — A federal judge ruled January 8, 2019, that the first thing to prove about copyright infringement allegations against the creators of Star Trek: Discovery is how they learned about the Tardigrades game.

Attorneys for the plaintiff, game developer Anas Abdin, met with their opponents representing CBS and Netflix for the first time before U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield.

The judge called for the conference to hear why she should entertain a motion to dismiss the case that is expected to be filed by the defendants.

Following that meeting in her chambers, Schofield approved a request by Abdin’s lawyers to submit a third amended legal complaint against CBS and Netflix, giving the plaintiff another chance to address potential weaknesses in his case. That complaint was to be filed within a week, by January 15.

Federal Judge Lorna G. Schofield

Schofield went on to set filing deadlines — with strict page limits — for the expected dismissal motion and its responses.

The judge also ordered immediate but limited discovery to begin in the case centering on the plaintiff’s claim Discovery‘s creators knew about the Tardigrades game before or during development of the new Star Trek series.

Fact discovery shall be completed no later than [March 19] on the limited issue of whether defendants accessed or viewed plaintiff’s work on the “STEAM” website and any action or activity with respect to that viewing, including voting.¹⁾

What is Steam?

Image/Wikipedia

Steam is a digital distribution platform developed by Valve Corporation for purchasing and playing video games. Steam offers video streaming and social networking services. Steam installs and automatically updates its games, providing users with installation and automatic updating of games, as well as offering community features such as friends lists and groups, cloud saving, and in-game voice and chat functionality.²⁾

In his legal complaint Abdin alleged that because details about his still-unpublished videogame were posted starting in 2014 on the popular game development website, Steam, Discovery‘s producers must have learned about it and copied elements for use in the television series that debuted in September 2017.

In 2015, interest in the Steam community about Abdin’s game had grown to the point where members voted for it to be “greenlit” — approved for distribution on the site once completed:

This game has been Greenlit by the Community! The community has shown their interest in this game. Valve [Stteam’s owner] has reached out to this developer to start moving things toward release on Steam.³⁾

In a December letter to the judge arguing against the defense’s intention to move to dismiss the case, Abdin’s lawyer, John Johnson claimed, “Hundreds of thousands of interested fans viewed the [Tardigrades game’s] treatment, thereby establishing a question of fact as to the defendants’ access.”⁴⁾

However, neither Abdin’s legal complaint nor this letter offered evidence substantiating his claimed hundreds of thousands of fans, prompting CBS attorney Hook Wang Hwang to criticize Abdin’s ”bare and speculative allegations“ that any of the defendants had the access to actually copy Abdin’s work. To establish access Abdin must “plausibly allege either: (1) a particular chain of events or a link from his work to the creators of the allegedly infringing work, or (2) that plaintiff’s work was widely disseminated.”⁵⁾

It was that lack of evidence that Schofield appeared to question in ordering discovery, essentially challenging the plaintiff to demonstrate with evidence that Discovery’s creators had accessed, viewed or voted on the Tardigrades game prospectus on Steam.

The wording of the judge’s order made clear that Abdin’s lawyers were going to have to find evidence in such places as computer logs, emails or other sorts of documents.

Off limits, according to Schofield, were depositions of anyone with regard to the case. But both sides got 10 weeks to search for evidence to convince the judge.

Concurrently with the limited discovery, Schofield set a timetable for consideration of the defendants’ expected motion to dismiss the case.

Following submission of the third amended legal complaint on January 15, the defense had to file for dismissal by February 12. Abdin’s reply opposing the motion was set for March 5. The judge imposed a 25-page limit for both pleadings.

If CBS and Netflix want to reply to the plaintiff’s opposition, Schofield said they may do so within a week, by March 12. Discovery on the access question was set for completion a week later.

In the meantime, the judge also asked for another joint status letter from both sides on February 12, the same day the defense motion to dismiss was to be filed.