Court: "Dark and Darker is not copyright infringement... Nexon must pay 8.5 billion KRW in damages"

Trade Secret Infringement Recognized

The court ruled that the online game 'Dark and Darker,' which was suspected of being illicitly developed by leaking Nexon's undisclosed project, does not constitute copyright infringement. However, it ordered compensation for damages caused by trade secret infringement.

The Civil Division 63 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Park Chan-seok) on the 13th ruled on Nexon Korea's lawsuit against Ironmace seeking injunctions for trade secret and copyright infringement, stating, "It is confirmed that the defendant (Ironmace) did not infringe the plaintiff's copyright on the '(Project) P3' game dated June 30, 2021, by reproducing, distributing, lending, or transmitting the Dark and Darker game."

Provided by Iron Mace

However, the court ordered, "The defendants shall jointly compensate 8.5 billion KRW for damages caused by the previous infringement acts and pay interest on the principal damages. Of this amount, 1 billion KRW shall accrue interest at an annual rate of 12% from March last year, and 7.5 billion KRW from June last year until full repayment." This means that the entire amount of damages caused to Nexon by Ironmace due to the project leak was recognized. Additionally, according to this ruling, litigation costs shall be borne 20% by Nexon and 80% by Ironmace.

Nexon has been engaged in legal battles since 2021, claiming that Choi, who was the team leader of the Project P3 development team in the New Development Headquarters, leaked source code and data to a personal server, then established Ironmace based on this material and developed Dark and Darker. During the four previous hearings, Nexon repeatedly argued that Dark and Darker is the same game as its project in terms of the selection, arrangement, and combination of components. Ironmace countered that it is a different game with several new elements, only similar at the idea level.

A Nexon representative stated, "We believe it is significant that the court fully recognized the damage claim of 8.5 billion KRW. We will carefully review the judgment and seek further legal review through higher courts."

An Ironmace representative said, "We respect the court's decision and will decide on the parts to appeal after receiving the judgment."