Bungie Wins $6.7 Million in Damages From LaviCheats * TorrentFreak

Home > Lawsuits > Apps and sites >

Game developer Bungie has won a default judgment against the Indian operator of cheat reseller LaviCheats, which failed to appear in court after being sued two years ago. A federal court in Washington awarded more than $6 million for copyright infringement and trademark damages related to various Destiny 2 hacks sold by LaviCheats.

In recent years, major video game companies have taken cheat developers, sellers, and resellers in the United States to court.

In 2021, the American video game company bungie he upped his game with trials against three major players; elite technical boss, Lavi Cheats and Veteran Cheats.

Bungie's legal campaign is starting to pay off. Last summer, the case against Elite Tech Boss resulted in a consent trial in which a key defendant agreed to pay $13.5 million in damage. This was followed by a $12 Million Default Judgment last month against Veterancheats.

The case against cheat reseller LaviCheats reached its conclusion in federal court in Washington this week. Like the cases against the other cheating operations, this lawsuit was not fully litigated.

Lavicheats does not appear in court

Earlier this year, Bungie filed a motion by default judgment against LaviCheats. The gaming company asked the court to rule on the matter without hearing the defendant, as they apparently have no interest in appearing in court.

Bungie believes the cheat vendor is operated by India-based Kunal Bansal, also known as "Lavi." There is no known address for this person, so to alert Bansal to the legal proceeding, Bungie sent an email and posted a message on the LaviCheats Forums.

These unusual service options were authorized by the court and achieved the desired result. Although there was no response from the defendant in court, the Destiny 2 cheats have been removed from the LaviCheats website.

$6.7 million default judgment

In the absence of a proper defense, United States District Judge Tana Lin assumed Bungie's copyright infringement claims to be true. The same also applies to the economic damages reported by the video game company.

This week, Judge Lin ruled on the default motion. After concluding that the court has jurisdiction over the foreign defendant and that a default judgment is due, he awarded more than $6.7 million in compensation.

The majority of the prize is made up of legal damages for 'intentional' violations of the DMCA. This applies to circumvention of Bungie's technological protection measures by the cheater.

With 2,790 downloads of "Bansal Cheats" and $2,000 in legal damages per download, this adds up to over $5.5 million. This is a reasonable figure, according to the court, which notes that the maximum damages per discharge would be higher.

“Based on the Complaint's allegations and the evidence provided, the Court is satisfied that Bansal's DMCA violations were willful and that compensation of up to $2,500 per download of Bansal Cheats is 'fair.'

"Bungie has asked for only $2,000 for each of the 2,790 downloads of Bansal Cheats and the Court finds this amount to be appropriate," added Judge Lin.

Copyright and Trademark Infringement

Bungie's allegations also included claims of copyright infringement. These damages are not determined by the number of cheatware downloads, but by the number of copyrights at stake, two in this case, for which the court awarded the legal maximum of $150,000 per infringement.

“Given the proper allegations of willful infringement of Bansal's copyrights, the Court finds that the maximum statutory damages are appropriate and awards $300,000 in statutory damages,” Judge Lin writes.

For the trademark violations, Bungie sought damages based on the defendant's actual earnings: between $45,987.58 and $579,270 according to estimates, with the court opting for the higher number.

"The Court accepts as true that Bansal won the higher amount, given that the allegations in the lawsuit are accepted as true, and the Court awards $579,270 in damages for the Trademark claims."

Success!?

There is no denying that the outcome of this case is a clear victory for Bungie. In addition to damages and additional fees, the order also includes an injunction requiring Bansal and LaviCheats to stop offering Bungie cheats.

As mentioned above, the service has already stopped selling Destiny 2 cheats, so that's another clearly positive result.

However, it is questionable whether Bungie will be able to recover any of the damage awarded. The whereabouts of the LaviCheats operator are unknown and, given his lack of response in the lawsuit, it is unlikely that the Indian defendant will pay without outside pressure.

—

A copy of the default judgment issued by United States District Judge Tana Lin is available. here (pdf)