Uploaded October 2024 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
In 2015 Lilith games contests a complaint for copyright infringement sent to them by Valve. The dispute is over Defense of the Ancients (DotA) the multi million dollar E-sports and casual play intellectual property. This contesting escalates into a multi year lawsuit in which Lilith games challenges Valve and Blizzards claim to DotA, trying to claim it as a ’collective work’, pressuring these mega companies to frantically try and establish a ’'legitimate'' claim to their intellectual property. And in the process transforming the games formerly thousands of authors into four. All this of course being in opposition to DotA’s nature – as a collective work. Lets dive into how Valve successfully transformed the narrative of DotA’s development to the detriment of 99% of it’s authors and community and how we can prepare ourselves for ownership heists like these. I suggest starting by looking to the practices of many a roguelike developer.
In 2015 Lilith games contests a complaint for copyright infringement sent to them by Valve. The dispute is over Defense of the Ancients (DotA) the multi million dollar E-sports and casual play intellectual property. This contesting escalates into a multi year lawsuit in which Lilith games challenges Valve and Blizzards claim to DotA, trying to claim it as a ’collective work’, pressuring these mega companies to frantically try and establish a ’'legitimate'' claim to their intellectual property. And in the process transforming the games formerly thousands of authors into four. All this of course being in opposition to DotA’s nature – as a collective work. Lets dive into how Valve successfully transformed the narrative of DotA’s development to the detriment of 99% of it’s authors and community and how we can prepare ourselves for ownership heists like these. I suggest starting by looking to the practices of many a roguelike developer.
