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Legal question on publishing and (exclusive) rights

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This has actually happened, but for anonymity I changed names and subject matter.

  • Company A sells MSFS addons that add fireflies. Swarms of nicely animated and sparkling fireflies.
  • Company B also sells MSFS addons to add fireflies. Swarms of nicely animated and sparkling fireflies.
  • Company A contacts company B and claims they have been the first to sell such addons and forbids company B to sell their firefly addons any further - threatening with legal consequences.

Important detail: Company A does not allege that company B has stolen any code or assets from them, they simply claim the IDEA of putting fireflies into the MSFS scenery as their own and exclusive.

I'd like to put aside the question, which company has actually been the first to publish such addons. In this particular (as in many other cases) that question may not be answered definitely. E.g. company/author C has already published something of that kind for a previous FS version.
Therefore let's assume Company A can 'prove' in some way they have been the first to publish/sell such a firefly addon.

My question: Can any 'third party' company claim an idea exclusively for themselves and forbid any other person/company to sell their own similar addons?
I know we already have 3 P-40 Warhawks and at least each 2 companies to sell seasons and airport markings and never heard of any legal rivalry, but maybe fireflies are a different matter?

What is your opinion or legal knowledge on that matter?
 
I am not a lawyer, but I believe that the claim is unfounded, ideas cannot be protected, copyright protects the support on which the ideas are captured.
The only ideas that can be protected are inventions (with patents), and Company A did not invent fireflies.
It will be interesting to see how the situation progresses.
 
Consequences of development are not really topics of development, people will sue over the slightest of incentives and since both the facts and legal standing of civil cases are not established until either the hearing, or the summary judgement, anything discussed prior to that is empty speculation. This thread should make room for productive conversations.
 
What is your suggestion of a better place? I gladly consider it! I was thinking about it and in the end opened a thread here. Many developers are also their own publisher and may have thoughts or even practical experience with such or similiar questions.
 
We do get legal issues appear in our forums. The general position is that we are not lawyers and the best approach is to seek qualified advice. Bear in mind that the law in one jurisdiction can be quite different than another.

Having said that this forum may be of interest for copyright issues: https://copyrightaid.co.uk/ The owner of this site who provides most information is UK based and therefore will have most knowledge about that jurisdiction. However he does appear to be knowledgeable about other jurisdictions.
 
FSDeveloper is more about creating assets and addons for various flight simulators. We don't condone discussions about legal matters. I do think you should seek legal advice from a lawyer, not from the internet.
 
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