Tim Langdell, the famous copyright troll who took on the likes of Namco, Future Publishing and EA over the use of the word 'Edge' in various products, has reimerged to hawk an updated version of his ZX Spectrum book, which was first published all the way back in 1982.
The Spectrum Handbook, according to the publication's Amazon page, "swiftly became the definitive reference book for anyone owning a Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer" in the early '80s and "entered the London Times Bestseller List and was widely acclaimed as the book reviewers wished had been bundled with the ZX Spectrum."
The book has been reissued to celebrate the launch of The Spectrum, a new variant of the home computer, which was released this year by Retro Games Ltd. "This second edition of the original book comes at an appropriate time when owners new to the Spectrum are enjoying the discovery of what the computer can do, and long-time fans of the Spectrum will welcome this book to refresh their memory of how to program the Spectrum," adds the book's description.
Two of Edge Games' titles – Fairlight I and Bobby Bearing – come pre-loaded on The Spectrum.
Today, Langdell is an ordained Priest (Zen and Christian) and Chaplain working in the field of palliative care and has written books on "computer programming, video game design, virtual reality, psychology and hospice", but gamers will know him best as the founder of the notoriously litigious Edge Games (formerly known as The Edge).
For many years, he attempted to claim ownership of the word 'Edge' and had some limited success; for example, Future licensed the trademark for its EDGE magazine in 1993 before buying out the relevant part of the trademark from Langdell in 2005. His legal activity against Namco regarding the 3D fighter Soul Edge was ultimately unsuccessful, but Namco decided to rename the game Soul Blade outside of Japan to avoid any potential issues and would rechristen the entire series Soulcalibur for future instalments.
Langdell's 2010 action against Electronic Arts over the video game Mirror's Edge would be the straw that broke the camel's back, however. Edge Games eventually settled but was forced to surrender many of its copyright registrations, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office cancelling all of its trademarks in 2013.