Court Rejects Sealing and TRO in EverQuest Lawsuit
From Daybreak Game Co. v. Takahashi, decided Wednesday by Judge Cynthia Bashant (S.D. Cal.):
Per the Complaint, Daybreak owns the intellectual property to EverQuest, including trademarks and copyrights associated with the EverQuest franchise. EverQuest is a “massively multiplayer online role-playing game” that has achieved a measure of commercial success. Daybreak alleges that Defendants Kristopher Takahashi and Alexander Taylor, as well as yet to be identified Defendants Does 1-20, collaborate to “create, develop, distribute, and promote an unauthorized and illegal EverQuest emulator called ‘The Heroes’ Journey'” (“THJ”). Defendants Takahashi and Taylor are the respective lead producer and developer of THJ and play primary roles in promoting it through interviews and communications in online forums such as Discord. By operating the emulator, Daybreak alleges that Defendants engage in “systematic and deliberate copyright and trademark infringement.” …
The court denied Daybreak’s attempt to seal the case:
Daybreak moves to temporarily seal this case in its entirety, asserting that sealing is necessary “to prevent Defendants from learning of the proceedings prior to the service of and execution of any temporary restraining order.” Accordingly, Daybreak requests that the Court seal the Complaint, the TRO Application, the Ex Parte Motion for Leave to Exceed Page Limits, and the Motion to Seal.
As an initial matter, the Court notes that both the Complaint and the TRO Application are more than tangentially related to the merits of this case. “A complaint is the document delineating what the merits of the case are.” And “[p]articularly relevant here, a motion for [temporary restraining order] frequently requires the court to address the merits of a case, which often
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