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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Bungie won a copyright verdict against AimJunkies in May 2024, with judgment materials listing $63,210 in damages. The separate $4,396,222 figure was an arbitration award—not the jury’s verdict. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s confirmation of that award, and the trial judge later denied the defendants’ request for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial.
What Bungie won—and how much
The case produced two distinct monetary outcomes. A Seattle jury found for Bungie on its copyright-infringement claim in May 2024. The court’s judgment materials list a total of $63,210 against Phoenix Digital Group LLC and four individual defendants; contemporaneous reporting described the amount as the defendants’ profits.
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The much larger $4,396,222 award came from a separate arbitration. JAMS-appointed arbitrator Ronald E. Cox issued that award, and the district court confirmed it. The Ninth Circuit later affirmed the confirmation. These are separate proceedings and awards, not a $4.4 million jury verdict.
| Outcome | Amount | Decision-maker and basis |
|---|---|---|
| Copyright case | $63,210 | Jury verdict and district-court judgment materials; amounts listed against Phoenix Digital Group LLC and four individuals, reported as defendants’ profits. Western District of Washington case materials and TorrentFreak. |
| Arbitration | $4,396,222 | Separate award by arbitrator Ronald E. Cox, confirmed by the district court and affirmed by the Ninth Circuit. Ninth Circuit memorandum. |
Why the copyright verdict stood
The district court’s August 30, 2024 order concluded that substantial evidence supported the jury’s verdict and denied defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law and for a new trial. The order described evidence about how the cheat worked and how it was developed.
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Reverse engineering and injecting the cheat
According to the order, developer James May admitted using reverse-engineering tools while developing a Destiny 2 cheat. Defendants also conceded that the cheat had to be injected into the game process to work. Bungie’s expert explained that this meant a copy of Destiny 2 code, with the cheat code inside it, ran on a customer’s computer.
What the cheat displayed
The court discussed the cheat’s “ESP” feature, which showed other players and non-player characters through walls, with identifying boxes, names, and distance information.
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The spoliation instruction
The jury received a spoliation instruction after an earlier court finding that defendants, including May, had spoliated evidence. Under the instruction, jurors could presume that missing cheat software and related records would have been adverse to the defendants. The judge later found the evidence sufficient to sustain the verdict. Read the district court’s August 30, 2024 order (Document 318).
What happened after the verdict
- May 2024: The jury found for Bungie on its copyright claim. The May 31 minute order recorded the verdict and proposed judgment, including damages, prejudgment interest from June 15, 2021, destruction of copies of Destiny 2 or derivative works in defendants’ possession or control, and a permanent injunction against specified copyright-infringing activity. Western District of Washington case materials.
- August 26, 2024: The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s confirmation of the arbitration award. Its memorandum is marked “NOT FOR PUBLICATION” and is not precedential except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. It addressed the challenge to the arbitration award, not the jury’s later copyright verdict. Read the Ninth Circuit memorandum.
- August 30, 2024: Judge Thomas S. Zilly denied defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law and for a new trial. The order did not award the separate arbitration amount. Western District of Washington, Document 318.
- 2025: TorrentFreak reported that the parties agreed to dismiss the remaining appeal, leaving the jury judgment and arbitration award intact. The dismissal filing itself is not cited here; this procedural update is attributed to the outlet’s report. TorrentFreak’s 2025 report.
What the appellate ruling did—and did not—decide
The Ninth Circuit memorandum affirmed confirmation of the arbitration award. It should not be described as a published precedential opinion, and it did not turn the arbitration award into jury damages. The jury’s copyright verdict and the arbitration challenge concerned different issues.
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TorrentFreak also reported that a purported AimJunkies representative sent an email accepting responsibility. The outlet said it could not verify the email’s authenticity, so it should not be treated as an authenticated statement by the defendants.
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