Mikael Persson, known as ‘hipoonios’ over Abime Amiga Forums, who released a Smurf game for the Amiga received a ‘cease and desist’ letter from the lawyers representing Studio Peyo, the owners of The Smurfs trademark for trademark infringement.
We cannot contest the fact that making the game using their intellectual property without permission is really a trademark infringement, but it is really surprising that a “fan-made” game for a 30-year-old platform has caught their attention, triggering legal action.
The developer posted the letter in the forum thread linked below, which demands the author to stop distributing the game, as well as to pay legal fees.
It is common for offices to monitor their clients property usage to find possible infringements, and cases like this one will probably make retro-game developers to be more cautious and think twice before using someone else’s intellectual property.
Link: Abime
Source: Amiga Gamer