Thursday
Jun032010
Bulgarian Organizers Take ChessBase to Court
Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 4:26PM
That's the title of an article on the ChessVibes site. The topic, which we recently addressed on the blog, is ChessBase's decision to rebroadcast the moves of the Anand-Topalov match without the organizers' permission. The article has a lot of detailed information, so do check it out. Unfortunately but understandably, ChessBase has yet to comment on the matter.
Reader Comments (2)
I'm confused.. During the Anand-Topalov match, most chess servers relayed the moves. That'd include the ICC and its free counterpart FICS (where I followed the game). According to 'the bulgarians' the entire game belongs to the organising committee. Fair enough, copyright laws being what they are; though I'll note it's counterintuitive.
What I don't get is why they're so interested in ChessBase and not FICS for example. The FICS relayed the moves freely, whereas with ChessBase (correct me if I'm in any way mistaken) you only needed a normal (paid for) account. I doubt ChessBase charges for relaying the moves themselves, it's my belief that with ChessBase, you basically only pay for the commentary.
In which case I don't understand the fuss, if it's the financial aspect that bothers 'the bulgarians', the ChessBase commentary would be the property of ChessBase (and/or commentators). If it's the breach of copyright, then there are at least a dozen servers and countless websites to go after... I MUST be missing something here..
On the other hand, if you're looking for the proverbial 'chicken to pluck', I understand why they (perhaps I ought to say 'he') go after ChessBase..
Perseus,
The article does address that general point (in the "Why only Chessbase?" section), though perhaps not to your satisfaction. (It doesn't mention FICS specifically, but maybe it's because they don't know about them?) As for why they're interested in ChessBase in particular, that should be clear from the "Earlier Warnings" section just above "Why only Chessbase?". (Note, though, that the "embedded by Chessbase" link at the end of the "Earlier Warnings" section goes to an article that never affirms the accusation.)