Zynga, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) needs all the help it can get, but perhaps not today.  It appears that Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) is going after Zynga on copyright infringement and the case involves social gaming on Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB).  In short, EA has filed a lawsuit (on behalf of its Maxis Label) against Zynga for infringing EA’s copyrights to its Facebook game, The Sims Social.

EA claims that in Zynga’s recently-released Facebook game The Ville, Zynga has willfully and intentionally “copied and misappropriated the original and distinctive expressive elements of The Sims Social in a violation of U.S. copyright laws.”

EA also claims that since The Sims Social launched in August 2011, its game rapidly gained tens of millions of users, and maintains a current user base of several million active players on Facebook.

FULL DETAILS CAN BE FOUND HERE

Zynga shares are currently up 2.6% at $2.77 on the day so far but shares hit a 52-week low today and the new 52-week trading range (less than 52-weeks actually) is $2.68 to $15.91.

JON C. OGG

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