Oculus VR Headset Sales Ban Rejected, Facebook to Pay ZeniMax $250 Million

Oculus VR headsets won't be banned from sale after all. Facebook won a ruling that rejected ZeniMax Media's request to prevent Oculus headset sales. In addition to this, it would only have to pay $250 million - half of a jury's $500 million verdict against Oculus for using computer code taken from ZeniMax. The Facebook-owned Oculus contended that there was no copyright infringement as just seven lines of code in Oculus' programs were copied from ZeniMax "out of approximately 42 billion lines" shown as trial evidence.

“Based on a strong evidentiary record, the jury in this case found that ZeniMax was seriously harmed by the defendants’ theft of ZeniMax’s breakthrough VR technology and its verdict reflected that harm,” the ZeniMax said in a statement. It won $250 million plus $54 million in interest but was disappointed that the jury verdict was halved.

Paul Grewal, Facebook Vice president and Deputy General Counsel, said the court’s ruling “was a positive step toward a fair resolution, and we will be appealing the remaining claims.”

"We’ve said from day one the ZeniMax case is deeply flawed, and today the court agreed," Grewal said in a statement. "Our commitment to Oculus is unwavering and we will continue to invest in building the future of VR."

Facebook bought Oculus in 2014 for $2 billion. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has said that the company's bet on virtual reality as the next big computing platform will take years to pay off. Currently, the headsets are mostly popular among video game players - not the mainstream.

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