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Bungie Wins Copyright Verdict Against Destiny 2 Cheat-Maker AimJunkies

A 2024 jury found AimJunkies-related defendants liable for copyright infringement over Destiny 2 cheat software. The $63,210 jury award was separate from a $4,396,222 arbitration award.
Length3 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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Yes. In May 2024, a federal jury found AimJunkies, Phoenix Digital Group and related defendants liable for copyright infringement involving cheat software for Destiny 2. The jury’s reported damages award was $63,210 in actual profits—not $4.4 million. That larger figure, $4,396,222, came from a separate arbitration award that the Ninth Circuit affirmed in August 2024. A later report says the remaining appeal was dismissed in 2025.

What Bungie won—and what the figures mean

The case produced two distinct monetary outcomes in separate proceedings. They should not be combined or described as one jury award.

Amount Proceeding What it represents
$63,210 May 2024 jury trial Actual-profit damages reported for the jury’s copyright verdict. TorrentFreak’s May 26, 2024 report gives this figure.
$4,396,222 Separate arbitration, later reviewed by the Ninth Circuit A final arbitration award against AimJunkies, confirmed by the district court and affirmed by the Ninth Circuit on August 26, 2024. It was not the jury’s damages award. The Ninth Circuit memorandum addresses this arbitration award.

The jury also found the defendants liable for direct, vicarious and contributory copyright infringement. It rejected developer James May’s DMCA counterclaim, according to the contemporaneous report and the district court’s post-trial order.

Why the jury found copyright infringement

Bungie and the defendants stipulated that Bungie owned valid copyrights in Destiny 2’s computer software and audiovisual works, including Destiny 2: Beyond Light. The contested trial issue was whether the cheat software copied protected aspects of the game.

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In its August 30, 2024 post-trial order, the district court described evidence that May used reverse-engineering tools while developing a cheat, that the cheat was injected into the game process, and that it altered the game’s code and audiovisual presentation. The parties also stipulated that an ESP feature could display other players and non-player characters through walls, with boxes, names and distances. These are facts discussed in the court’s account of this case—not a ruling that every mod, overlay or third-party tool infringes copyright.

The court said Bungie had presented both direct and circumstantial evidence of copying. Judge Thomas S. Zilly wrote: “Bungie could show that Defendants copied protected aspects of Destiny 2 with either direct or circumstantial evidence of copying. Both types of evidence were presented at trial.” The order also noted that the cheat software and related records had been spoliated; the jury received a permissive instruction allowing an adverse inference. The court relied on that instruction and audiovisual evidence when it concluded that substantial evidence supported the verdict. Read the district court’s August 30, 2024 order.

How the lawsuit and appeals unfolded

  1. June 2021: Bungie filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against AimJunkies.com, Phoenix Digital Group, people associated with the operation and developer James May. The case included copyright and other claims. Contemporaneous coverage reports the filing and case context.
  2. Separate arbitration: Some claims went to binding arbitration under Bungie’s Limited Software License Agreement. The arbitrator issued a final award of $4,396,222 against AimJunkies, which the district court confirmed.
  3. May 2024: A jury found the defendants liable for copyright infringement and awarded the reported $63,210 in actual-profit damages. It rejected May’s DMCA counterclaim.
  4. August 26, 2024: The Ninth Circuit affirmed confirmation of the arbitration award, finding the record did not establish the misconduct or irrationality required to vacate it. Its decision addressed the arbitration—not the jury’s copyright verdict. The memorandum states, “The District Court did not err in confirming the arbitration award.” Read the Ninth Circuit memorandum.
  5. August 30, 2024: Judge Zilly denied the defendants’ renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law and request for a new trial, explaining why the trial evidence supported the copyright verdict and rejecting May’s challenge to the spoliation instruction. Read the post-trial order.
  6. September 26, 2025: TorrentFreak reported that the parties stipulated to dismiss the remaining Ninth Circuit appeal and would bear their own costs and fees. The report said the verdict and arbitration award remained intact. Read the September 26, 2025 report.
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Why “landmark” needs a qualification

Contemporaneous coverage described the 2024 proceeding as the first U.S. jury trial of its kind. That makes “landmark” a reasonable description of the reported trial, but it does not mean the Ninth Circuit created a binding nationwide rule about cheat software. Its arbitration memorandum is marked not for publication and says it is not precedent except as allowed under Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. It affirmed the arbitration award; it did not decide the jury’s copyright verdict.

The verdict is therefore a case-specific result based on the evidence presented about this cheat and this game. It should not be read as a blanket copyright ruling against all game modifications or third-party software.

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