Photo = Yonhap News

 

 

[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] The Seoul Central District Court has ruled on the legal dispute between Nexon and Ironmace regarding the online game Dark and Darker, which was alleged to have been developed based on the leaked details of Nexon’s unpublished project. The court ruled that while the game did not infringe on Nexon’s copyright, Ironmace was found liable for violating Nexon’s trade secrets and must compensate for the damages.


The court confirmed that Ironmace’s actions, such as replicating, distributing, or transmitting Dark and Darker, did not infringe on Nexon’s copyright concerning its "P3" game project, which was revealed in June 2021. However, it ruled that the trade secret leak caused damages to Nexon, which Ironmace is required to pay.


The court ordered Ironmace to compensate Nexon with a total of 8.5 billion KRW. Of that amount, 1 billion KRW is to be paid starting March 2024, and the remaining 7.5 billion KRW must be paid starting June 2024, with an annual interest rate of 12%.


Nexon had claimed that the project’s source code and data were leaked by a former team leader, who transferred them to a personal server, and the stolen information was used to create Dark and Darker after founding Ironmace. This legal battle has been ongoing since 2021.

 

 

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