Facebook’s Oculus facing $500 million bill in copyright case

“While we regret we had to litigate in order to vindicate our rights, it was necessary to take a stand against companies that engage in illegal activity in their desire to get control of new, valuable technology,” ZeniMax said in a statement.

ZeniMax’s lawsuit revolved around a mind-numbing area of the law that typically doesn’t draw a lot of attention. But the case became higher profile last month when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, one of the world’s richest men, came to testify.

During his appearance, Zuckerberg denied that Oculus had stolen any of its technology from ZeniMax and revealed that buying Oculus cost Facebook more than just the initial $2 billion acquisition price. He said Facebook also agreed to pay $1 billion to retain and motivate Oculus workers.

The ZeniMax case could further raise the cost of the Oculus acquisition. Oculus is on the hook for $300 million in damages. Iribe is responsible for $150 million, and Luckey is saddled with the remaining $50 million.

In a statement, Oculus said it was pleased that the jury rejected allegations that it stole trade secrets from ZeniMax. The jury instead found violations of copyrights, trademark and contractual laws. Had Oculus lost on all the issues raised in ZeniMax’s allegations, it could have been slapped with $2 billion in damages.

“Oculus products are built with Oculus technology,” the company said. “Our commitment to the long-term success of VR remains the same, and the entire team will continue the work they’ve done since day one.”

This story has been corrected to spell first name of Oculus co-founder to Brendan, not Brandon and correct the amount of damages owed by Oculus to $300 million instead of $250 million.

Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Facebook’s Oculus facing $500 million bill in copyright case

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