A lawsuit has been filed against Capcom, in which the developer has been accused of illegally using copyrighted property in several of its games.
Designer Judy A. Juracek filed the complaint on Friday (4 June) in a Connecticut court, claiming the developer used numerous images from her copyrighted book Surfaces.
The book contains over 1,200 photographs of different surfaces. Juracek created the collection of images as a reference point for other artists, designers and creatives.
Juracek published the book in 1996 alongside a CD-ROM of all the images included in the book. In the lawsuit, Juracek claims Capcom used over 80 images from Surfaces without her approval.
Resident Evil 4’s logo is just one instance of the alleged copyright infringement according to Juracek. The texture in the background of the logo features broken glass, which she claims is from a photo she took in Italy.
Jurasek’s lawsuit features over 100 pages of supporting documents, which shows how Capcom allegedly stole images on 200 different occasions across several titles.
In the lawsuit document obtained by Polygon, Juracek’s lawyer claims that “Capcom’s activities show a pattern of misconduct.”
The document contains a number of examples, showing how Juracek’s images were allegedly used as the basis for textures. Games mentioned in the lawsuit include Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil Remake and Resident Evil 4.
Juracek has also claimed that file names obtained in Capcom’s data hack last year, match the file names she used. One example shows metal texture used in the Resident Evil Remake. The texture, titled ‘ME0009’ shares the same name as the image Juracek alleges Capcom took from her CD-ROM.
Speaking to Polygon, a representative from Capcom said the company is “aware of the lawsuit, and has no further comment”.
Elsewhere, Capcom announced this week that it has removed the much criticised Denuvo DRM (digital rights management) from Monster Hunter: World.
When Monster Hunter: World launched on Steam in 2018 it came with a DRM system to deter pirates by requiring online activation to launch the game.
The post Capcom faces lawsuit for alleged stolen photos in ‘Resident Evil 4’ appeared first on NME.
