GamePolitics reports that God of War publisher Sony Computer Entertainment America and designer David Jaffe have been named in a lawsuit which alleges copyright infringement. The case was filed by Jonathan Bissoon-Dath and Jennifer Barrette-Herzog in late February, with Sony and Jaffe filing responses on August 29th.

In the complaint, Bissoon-Dath identifies himself as "the author of a series of related works of fiction, including Olympiad, a screenplay." Barrette-Herzog is described as the creator of Island at the Edge of the Living World, "a map that was submitted with Bissoon-Dath's work: The Adventures of Own: Owen's Olympic Adventure."

The plaintiffs allege that in 2002 they sent their work to Sony Pictures as well as agents who also did business with SCEA. Bissoon-Dath and Barrette-Herzog note that the original God of War shipped in 2005 and that David Jaffe apparently said at some point that the game had taken three years to develop.

Beyond the alleged similarity in the time line, the plaintiffs also claim that GoW shares elements of plot, character relationships, themes, settings, mood, pace and dialogue with their works. Bissoon-Dath and Barrette-Herzog list seven pages of what they allege are suspicious similarities between their work and God of War. -- GamePolitics

GP cites some of the example claims made by the plaintiffs, but it's hard to see how this one will go; SCEA and Jaffe assert that no infringement took place, and that some of the plaintiffs' work lies in the public domain. "In addition, the plaintiff's delineation of specific alleged similarities are described as 'inaccurate, incomplete, abstracted and/or misleading.'"

Naturally, SCEA and Jaffe want reimbursement for legal costs if they win.