In June, a jury agreed with Antonick and found that EA did use code and features developed by him in Madden from 1990 to 1996. The problem here, says U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer, is that the jury did not compare each version of the game in a side-by-side comparison. Instead, their decision was only based on an expert witness.
"Without the opportunity to view each of the versions, the jury had no basis for evaluating whether the changes addressed altered each subsequent game," Breyer wrote.
Thus, there existed no evidence from which "a reasonable juror could conclude that (the games) are virtually identical when compared as a whole."
Thus, there existed no evidence from which "a reasonable juror could conclude that (the games) are virtually identical when compared as a whole."
So, Judge Breyer is throwing out the awarded $11 million that the jury in July said he won. Of course, Antonick and his lawyer will appeal the newest ruling. EA maintains that Antonick was fully compensated for his work on the original game and that there is "no evidence that any of the Sega Madden games are virtually identical to the Apple II game that (Antonick) programmed."
(via Kotaku)
