Facebook's Oculus will ultimately have to pay a $500 million fine for stealing code from ZeniMax, according to a ruling by a court that heard a lawsuit filed three years ago.
Recall that Oculus was bought by Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion. Now, however, it will have to pay a rather large sum of money after a court ruled that Oculus used technology developed by ZeniMax, an American video game company.
Facebook is already planning to appeal the decision that found Oculus guilty of copyright infringement, breaking a non-disclosure agreement, and misappropriating trademarks.
Of the $500 million fine, Oculus must pay $200 million for breaching a non-disclosure agreement, and $50 million for copyright infringement. Oculus' co-founders will also have to pay a very large sum.
The company and Palmer Luckey will each have to pay $50 million for false testimony, and Brendan Iribe an additional $150 million.
While that may seem like a lot, it's nothing compared to what ZeniMax was seeking in the lawsuit. The company was seeking a total of $2 billion in damages, which is roughly the amount Facebook paid to acquire Oculus in 2014.
Of course, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Oculus creators Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe have filed an appeal in hopes of being cleared of all charges, so ZeniMax will have to wait for the final verdict in the case.
