Fight for Star Control ownership escalates after settlement offer leaks

Creators of Star Control Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III are being sued by game and software development company Stardock for trademark infringement.

As reported by Polygon, the situation has become dire since Reiche and Ford posted details of what they claim to be a proposed settlement offer delivered by Stardock’s legal team online. 

“Paul and Fred’s representations are not accurate. However, the settlement discussion was protected by confidentiality, which Paul and Fred violated and then misrepresented and we are not at liberty to discuss it," Stardock told Polygon. "We have made every effort to be respectful to and adhere to the preferences of Paul and Fred." 

Ford and Reiche say that the settlement offer would force them to surrender their rights to the franchise to Stardock.

This means it would prevent them creating a similar game for the next five years, and would force them to pay Stardock $225,000 along with issuing a public apology. 

The duo have been in legal conflict with Stardock since December of last year, accusing the company of publishing their earlier games without permission.

They also filed a countersuit against the publisher last month for both copyright infringement and unfair competition relating to its use of the Star Control intellectual property. 

Ford and Reiche say the settlement offer was delivered on or around March 6, and would dissolve any costly legal proceedings.

The two are unsure if they will print the offer or not, but suggest that Brad Wardell (founder of Stardock) instead prove their dishonesty.

"How about you call [Wardell], who’s saying it’s dishonest, and ask him to prove it," Reiche tells Polygon. "It’s his settlement offer. He has absolute rights to share it, and if he’s the one saying it’s dishonest, let him produce it because we’re totally, completely fine with people seeing it verbatim.”