Guitar Hero Gets To Rock On For Now

from the can't-shut-me-down dept

Fri, Dec 21st 2007 1:53am — Mike Masnick

Last month we wrote about how the 80s rock band the Romantics was suing Activision for a version of its video game Guitar Hero. That game used a cover of a Romantics hit, which was properly licensed. However, the Romantics claimed that the cover was too good and too close to the original and wanted to be paid for a full performance license, rather than just for the cover. Otherwise, they wanted to halt sales of the game. Luckily, a judge has turned down their request for a summary judgment, noting that an injunction right before the holidays would have a profound impact on Activision's sales of the game. The judge also noted that the band did not "show a substantial likelihood of prevailing on the merits of the case." Apparently, the judge was less-than-impressed by the fact that the band's own lawyer admitted that this was "all about the money."

Filed Under: copyright, cover songs, guitar hero, romantics
Companies: activision

13 Comments

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ConceptJunkie (profile), 21 Dec 2007 @ 3:43am

The problem with perpetual copyright...
And here we have a bunch of people tying up courts to try to get paid _again_ for something they did almost 30 years ago.
Except thanks to the late Congressman Bono (R-Disney), they could still be doing this in the 22nd century.

This is now how copyright was supposed to work.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Dec 2007 @ 6:06am

It is ALWAYS about the money.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Dec 2007 @ 6:22am

The Romantics should just go back to thier current jobs as mall security guards, and shut the hell up.
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Wisely Anonymous, 21 Dec 2007 @ 7:11am

What would you do?
Let's see you in the same situation. You'd go for the cash, too. You'd be a fool not to, unless you already have more cash than you could possibly need. Not many people on the planet are that rich.

It's easy to criticize.

If I had written a song and was earning a patheticly low royalty while someone else was reselling it for big bucks, I'd feel ripped off as well.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Dec 2007 @ 7:20am

Re: What would you do?
Umm they were paid already to use the song by Activision correct? They now say the version is too good and want more money. If the song was not as good sounding they wouldn't be suing. They did get paid.
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You never know, 21 Dec 2007 @ 7:21am

I can't Believe it! A caring Judge, and a truthful Lawyer! A Holiday miracle indeed!
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Max Powers, 21 Dec 2007 @ 9:42am

More Publicity
No such thing as bad publicity so this was a way to get their name back in the news to boost CD sales.
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Boris, 21 Dec 2007 @ 9:44am

Re: What would you do?
Yeah pretty outrageous to go after the money twice as my Anonymous friend above but one says. Where in the contract did it say 'we grant licence for Activision to use our song, as long as they make it sound crap'...

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
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HuFlungPoo, 21 Dec 2007 @ 10:43am

Re: More Publicity
"No such thing as bad publicity so this was a way to get their name back in the news to boost CD sales."
What CD? The Romantics have a new CD?! Another holiday miracle!
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DittoBox, 21 Dec 2007 @ 1:36pm

Re: The problem with perpetual copyright...
One point of contention here is that Bono would most likely be a Democrat and not a Republican.

Cheers!
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Shun, 21 Dec 2007 @ 3:38pm

Publicity Scam?
Where is the logic in this? Won't the Romantics get paid more if more copies of Guitar Hero are sold? What's the point of attempting to stop sales? Would you rather see 4 cents per copy sold, or none at all? (Using the WGA strike numbers as a baseline) Aside from the "free" publicity, I don't see how their actions contribute to the enjoyment of their music to all of their adoring fans, if they even have any, now.

And just how can you demand a performance license if the people who performed the song actually were not the members of the band? Was there some spirit channeling going on?

Here's a suggestion, guys: practice! Then release a single, or something, which is "better" than the version on Guitar Hero. That is, if you can.
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thad jarvis, 22 Dec 2007 @ 5:41pm

guitar hero
real guitars are for old people...
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matt, 26 Dec 2007 @ 8:56am

hmm...
So what they are really saying is they would have preferred it if the cover band butchered their song and made it sound horrible?
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