Midway Mfg. Co. v. Artic International, Inc.

Rule of Law:

Audiovisual displays generated by video games are copyrightable works fixed in a tangible medium of expression (ROMs), and third-party devices that replicate or modify these displays constitute copyright infringement as unauthorized copies or derivative works.

Facts:

• Midway Manufacturing acquired the U.S. rights to the 'Galaxian' and 'Pac-Man' video games from a Japanese developer, Namco.
• The games operate using printed circuit boards containing microprocessors and ROMs (Read Only Memory) which generate specific sounds and images on a screen.
• Midway registered copyrights for the audiovisual works of both games by submitting videotapes of the game play to the Copyright Office, as the Office had no specific regulation for game boards.
• Defendant Artie International began selling 'speed-up kits' consisting of circuit boards that, when plugged into a Galaxian machine, made the aliens move faster and increased the game's difficulty.
• Artie also sold 'Puckman' printed circuit boards that created a game virtually identical to Pac-Man, differing only in the name and trivial details.
• The 'speed-up kits' were designed specifically to modify the visual play of Galaxian, and the Puckman boards contained data substantially identical to Midway's Pac-Man ROMs.
• Artie argued that the games were not 'fixed' because the images changed based on player interaction and that Midway had only copyrighted the videotapes, not the games themselves.

Procedural Posture:

• Midway sued Artie in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and unfair competition.
• Midway filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop Artie from selling the circuit boards.
• Artie filed a motion for summary judgment on the copyright issues, claiming the copyrights were invalid.
• The District Court held an evidentiary hearing regarding the preliminary injunction.