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What’s Going On?
IRONMACE Co., Ltd. is a South Korean independent video game developer that has recently been accused of Copyright Infringement and Misappropriation of Trade Secrets by Nexon Korea Corporation. According to Nexon, Ironmace’s PC game Dark and Darker was developed using trades secrets and copyrighted information copied and stolen from Nexon. However, Ironmace refutes these allegations and is prepared to show that no copyrighted materials or misappropriated trade secrets were used by them.
Response to Allegations:
In the takedown notice, Nexon listed their registered copyrights pertaining to the P3 Project which were registered just last month, more than 6 months after Dark and Darker was revealed to the public, as the subject of the alleged infringement. One of the main points of contention in the allegation is that one of Ironmace’s team members had acquired and transferred key assets to his personal server without authorization. However, Ironmace has provided a detailed response to this claim. The team member in question had received multiple written authorizations from Nexon’s executive members from 2020 to 2021, allowing him to utilize an external personal server to improve the performance of his team. The accused member had asked for approval to continue using his personal servers after the leadership had told him to refrain from doing so, and the servers were taken down as requested. However, some automated scripts related to the build machine were left running on his personal server due to the uncertainty of sporadic COVID waves. Ironmace argues that Nexon was aware of this because all company machines were monitored using a companywide endpoint solution. Since Nexon did not issue any warning or reprimand the accused member, this can be construed as acknowledgement that his actions were acceptable.
Ironmace’s team member had decided to leave Nexon in June 2021 due to a breakdown of trust with one of his superiors and the uncertain atmosphere at the company. He made it clear to his team that the reason for leaving was due to the uncertain atmosphere fostered at the company. Ironmace refutes the claims that he stole or misappropriated any files. However, he was fired based on these unproven claims and subsequently sued by Nexon a month later. Ironmace states that the claims of stealing or misappropriating these files have not been substantiated and he has been fully cooperative with the investigation from the police.
As a secondary contention, Nexon alleges that the founder of Ironmace, Terence Park, knew that the accused member used stolen trade secrets and copyrighted material to develop Dark and Darker to knowingly benefit oneself and Ironmace, based purely on past association and without offering any proof. However, Ironmace refutes these claims and states that the founder had no knowledge that any stolen trade secrets or copyrighted material were ever used to develop Dark and Darker. In fact, the founder has on multiple occasions told members of his team that they must be extra diligent in ensuring that everything is done by the books in order to uphold the vision and branding of the company.
Will this be the end?
IRONMACE Co., Ltd. is an independent video game developer that has been accused of Copyright Infringement and Misappropriation of Trade Secrets by Nexon Korea Corporation. However, Ironmace has refuted these allegations and has provided a detailed response to each claim. They argue that no copyrighted materials or misappropriated trade secrets were used in the development of their PC game Dark and Darker. Ironmace is fully cooperating with the investigation from the police and is committed to proving that they have done nothing wrong. As the investigation continues, Ironmace remains confident that the truth will prevail, and they will be exonerated of all allegations.
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