A new lawsuit against Capcom alleges that the company used copyrighted images without permission in games like Resident Evil 4 and Devil May Cry and even in the former game’s logo. The lawsuit comes from designer Judy A. Juracek which she filed in a Connecticut court on Friday.
In the lawsuit, she alleges that Capcom used photos from her copyrighted book, Surfaces, in multiple games, including Resident Evil 4, Devil May Cry, and other titles. Surfaces is a collection of 1,200 texture photographs that Juracek took herself.
According to the book’s description, the book is intended to be used for “visual research” for artists, architects, and designers.
The book comes with a disc that includes digital copies of the images, but these too are licensed and copyrighted and require permission for Juracek for official usage. Juracek says in the lawsuit that Capcom never contacted her for a license.
The lawsuit sees Juracek highlight at least 80 photographs used for different purposes and scenarios across Capcom’s games. One instance called out in the lawsuit also features a shattered glass texture that is exactly like the one used in the logo for Resident Evil 4.
The lawsuit also comes with 100 pages of supporting documents that point out more than 200 instances of her photographs of marbled textures and ornate sculptural details being used in Capcom games.
A fair share of Juaracek’s evidence comes from last year’s Capcom data breach. The infringement saw the personal information of over 350,000 people leaked along with details on Resident Evil Village’s launch. As per Juracek, the leak also included “high-resolution images of artwork used in Resident Evil and other games.”
The file names for at least one of the images from the Capcom hacked files are the same file names as those used on the [Surfaces] CD-ROM
Juracek
The lawsuit shows a metal texture labeled “ME009” on Juracek’s CD-ROM and Capcom’s folders.
The lawsuit also mentions how Capcom was recently accused of plagiarism by Dutch filmmaker Richard Raaphorst. According to Raaphorst, Capcom took several of the monster designs for Resident Evil Village from his 2013 film Frankenstein’s Army.
Raaphorst found out about the alleged lift when fans pointed it out to him, and like in the case of Juracek, Capcom neglected to take permission before using his concepts.
Juracek’s lawyers are asking the court to award her up to $12 million in damages on counts of copyright infringement. They are also seeking damages in the range of $2,500-$25,000 for each used photograph due to “false copyright management and removal of copyright management.”
According to Polygon, Capcom is “aware of the lawsuit” and has “no further comment.”
About Capcom
Capcom Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. Some of their most well-known franchises are Street Fighter, Resident Evil, Mega Man, Monster Hunter and Devil May Cry. It was first established in 1979 and now has subsidiaries in Asia, Europe and North America.
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