Editing Valve Corporation (section)

=== ''Dota'' intellectual property ownership ===
''[[Defense of the Ancients]]'' (DotA) was a landmark [[mod (video gaming)|mod]] first released in 2003 that created the basis of the genre of [[multiplayer online battle arena]] (MOBA). It was originally developed by Kyle Sommer (who goes by the alias ''Eul'') within [[Blizzard Entertainment]]'s ''[[Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos]]'' via its [[Warcraft III World Editor|world editor]], and spawned several similar efforts, notably ''DotA-Allstars''. While there had been several that contributed to ''DotA-Allstars'', the project was managed primarily by [[Steve "Guinsoo" Feak]], and later by "[[IceFrog]]". IceFrog was eventually hired by Valve in 2009, with the rights to the ''DotA'' [[intellectual property]] being sold to Valve the following year. Eul was also hired into Valve by 2010.<ref name="dota ip"/> Valve then subsequently filed [[trademark]]s towards a sequel to ''DotA'', titled ''[[Dota 2]]''. DotA-Allstars, LLC, a group of former contributors to the ''DotA-Allstars'' project, filed an opposing trademark in August 2010 to contest Valve's claim it owned the property rights.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Augustine |first=Josh |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/riot-games-dev-counter-files-dota-trademark/ |title=Riot Games' dev counter-files "DotA" trademark |date=August 17, 2010 |access-date=May 1, 2022|magazine=[[PC Gamer]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203103306/http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/08/17/riot-games-dev-counter-files-dota-trademark/ |archive-date=February 3, 2013}}</ref>

DotA-Allstars, LLC was eventually acquired by Blizzard to start development of ''Blizzard All-Stars''. Blizzard took over the trademark challenge. The [[United States Patent & Trademark Office]] initially ruled in Valve's favor. By this point, [[Riot Games]] had hired Guinsoo to help develop their own MOBA, ''[[League of Legends]]''. As with IceFrog, Feak transferred his rights to the ''Dota'' property to Riot, who in turn sold those to Blizzard. Blizzard filed a lawsuit against Valve to challenge Valve's ownership, pitting the rights assigned through IceFrog to Guinsoo at odds.<ref>{{cite web |last=Plunkett |first=Luke |url=https://kotaku.com/blizzard-and-valve-go-to-war-over-dota-name-5883938 |title=Blizzard and Valve go to War Over DOTA Name |date=February 10, 2012 |publisher=Kotaku |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211081846/http://kotaku.com/5883938/blizzard-is-suing-valve |archive-date=February 11, 2012|access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> The case ''Blizzard Entertainment v. Valve Corporation'' was settled out of court in May 2012; Valve retained the right to use ''Dota'' commercially, while Blizzard reserved the right for fans to use ''Dota'' non-commercially.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Reilly |first=Jim |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/05/11/valve-blizzard-reach-dota-trademark-agreement.aspx |title=Valve, Blizzard Reach DOTA Trademark Agreement |date=May 11, 2012 |magazine=[[Game Informer]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724090129/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/05/11/valve-blizzard-reach-dota-trademark-agreement.aspx |archive-date=July 24, 2012}}</ref> Blizzard changed the names of its own projects to remove the ''Dota'' term, and renamed ''Blizzard All-Stars'' as ''[[Heroes of the Storm]]''. Valve's ''Dota 2'' was released in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kotaku.com/blizzard-s-diablo-starcraft-wow-crossover-has-a-new-nam-1447238984 |title=Blizzard's Diablo/Starcraft/WoW Crossover Has a New Name |publisher=Kotaku |date=October 17, 2013 |last=Narcisse |first=Evan |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020114040/http://kotaku.com/blizzard-s-diablo-starcraft-wow-crossover-has-a-new-nam-1447238984 |archive-date=October 20, 2013}}</ref>

In 2014, mobile developers Lilith and {{Proper name|uCool}} released their games ''Dota Legends'' and ''Heroes Charge'', respectively. Both were influenced by ''Dota'' and the sequels. In 2017, Valve and Blizzard took joint action against these companies, citing copyright issues related to the ''Dota'' names. {{Proper name|uCool}} argued that the ''Dota'' games were a [[Collective work (US)|collective work]] and could not be copyrighted by anyone in particular, but the presiding judge, [[Charles R. Breyer]], felt that, due to the trio's actions as maintainers of the ''Dota'' mods, they had a rightful copyright claim to this. Separately, Lilith and {{Proper name|uCool}} argued that Eul had, in a forum post from September 2004, assigned an [[Open-source software|open-source copyright license]] to ''Dota'', which would make Valve and Blizzard's copyright claims void. The case was later heard by a jury.<ref name="dota ip">{{cite web |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/05/does-valve-really-own-dota-a-jury-will-decide/ |title=Does Valve really own Dota? A jury will decide |first=Kyle |last=Orland |date=May 17, 2017 |access-date=May 22, 2017 |work=[[Ars Technica]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170521165016/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/05/does-valve-really-own-dota-a-jury-will-decide/ |archive-date=May 21, 2017}}</ref>