Judge Denies Activision Guitar Hero Injunction

A Federal judge has denied an injunction submitted by the rock band The Romantics against Activision, red Octane, and Harmonix Music Systems over Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.

The band filed suit almost a month ago, alleging that the Guitar Hero recording of “What I Like About You” is too good an imitation, causing consumers to believe that The Romantics recorded the track and endorsed the product. The Romantics are demanding compensatory and punitive damages as well as an injunction to prevent further distribution of the game.

The judge who ruled on the case indicated that, in the case of any copyright issues, Activision did exactly what the company was supposed to do in developing the product.

The Romantics haven’t indicated whether they will pursue the matter any further at this time.

“Respect for all artists is an important value of the company and Activision has a long history of supporting artists from a range of entertainment fields,” the company said in a statement.

“The company believes videogames represent a growing opportunity for the music industry to reach new audiences and a strong source of potential license revenue for both bands and music publishers.”

I could say something scathing at this point, so I will.

I find it really rich and absolutely hysterical that The Romantics actually tried to sue anyone for sounding too much like them. I know they haven’t had a hit single since 1985 and are probably hard up for cash but really this suit just smacks of gratuitous litigation.

Does this mean that garage bands and other bands just starting out should start worrying about being sued over covers? How about karaoke? Where does it stop?

At least the judge had sense enough to see the suit for the complete silliness it is.

via GamesIndustry.biz