Editing K.C. Munchkin! (section)

{{Short description|1981 video game}}
{{More footnotes|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = K.C. Munchkin!
|image = Munchkin Coverart.png
|caption = European cover
|developer = 
|publisher = [[Philips]], [[Magnavox]]
|designer = [[Ed Averett]]
|series = 
|engine = 
|released = [[1981 in video gaming|1981]]
|genre = [[List of maze video games|Maze]]
|modes = 
|platforms = [[Magnavox Odyssey 2]], [[Philips VG5000]]<ref>https://www.video-games-museum.com/en/game/Glouton/87/3/28662</ref>
}}

'''''K.C. Munchkin!''''', released in Europe as '''''Munchkin''''', is a [[maze game]] for the [[Magnavox Odyssey 2]]. Its North American title is an inside reference to then president of Philips Consumer Electronics, Kenneth C. Menkin.

Designed and programmed by Ed Averett, ''Munchkin'' is very heavily based on [[Namco|Namco's]] 1980 arcade game ''[[Pac-Man]]'', but not a direct clone. It was, however, similar enough for [[Atari, Inc.|Atari]] to [[Atari, Inc. v. North American Philips Consumer Electronics Corp.|sue Philips]] and force them to cease production of ''Munchkin''. Atari was exclusively licensed to produce the first play-at-home version of ''Pac-Man'', but ''Munchkin'' hit store shelves in 1981, a year before [[Pac-Man (Atari 2600)|Atari's game]] was ready. Atari initially failed to convince a U.S. district court to halt the sale of ''Munchkin'', but ultimately won its case on appeal. In 1982, the appellate court found that Philips had copied ''Pac-Man'' and made alterations that "only tend to emphasize the extent to which it deliberately copied the Plaintiff's work." The ruling was one of the first to establish how [[copyright]] law would apply to the [[look and feel]] of computer software.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=c6IS3RnN6qAC&dq=KC+Munchkin&pg=PA28 Legal Battles that Shaped the Computer Industry], by Lawrence D. Graham; published 1999 by Quorum Books; via [[Google Books]]</ref>