This approach must have failed to prevent significant losses to piracy, however, as the company later hired outside legal counsel to pursue claims against those who had illegally downloaded The Witcher 2. The contracted law firm reportedly sent copyright infringement notices requesting approximately $1,200 in damages to each identified pirate. As a result of this action, fans of The Witcher 2 strongly voiced their concern that these tactics could wrongly target those who had downloaded the product legally and that this course of action was heavy-handed for a company that had a reputation for being fan-friendly.
In response to this outcry, Marcin Iwinski, co-founder of CD Projekt RED, issued a press release stating that the company would immediately cease identifying and contacting pirates. Iwinski explained that the company’s actions were never intended to injure those who legally purchased The Witcher 2:
Iwinski had previously estimated that The Witcher 2 had been pirated at least 4.5 million times and that it was only attempting to recover monies from those who had illegally obtained a copy of the game. While CD Projekt RED wishes to maintain its fan-friendly relationship, Iwinski asks gamers to return the favor by discouraging others from committing piracy:
Do you think it was fair for CD Projekt RED to pursue individuals for damages? If not, what should a developer do to protect its intellectual property rights?
The Witcher 2 is available on Windows PC and is scheduled for release on the Xbox 360 during the first quarter of 2012.
Source: PC Gamer
