No Doubt Sues Activision

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writinguy Posted: 11-05-2009 4:07 PM

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No Doubt is suing Activision because their likenesses can be used to sing/perform songs by other bands.

I think this is a stupid lawsuit personally.

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acsguitar replied on 11-05-2009 4:10 PM

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LOL talk about a once Punk band going soft.

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mafafu replied on 11-05-2009 4:27 PM

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I like No Doubt and I dislike Activision - go Gwen!

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taintedzodiac replied on 11-05-2009 4:40 PM

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I'm not sure what to think here. On one hand you have a band wanting to protect its image. On the other this should fall under the right to create a parody.

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Hexpane replied on 11-05-2009 4:43 PM

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writinguy:

No Doubt is suing Activision because their likenesses can be used to sing/perform songs by other bands.

I think this is a stupid lawsuit personally.

 

Why is it stupid?  They did the same thing w/ Nirvana and Activision is KNOWN for being greedy lying douchebags (the CEO especially) that treat their primary consumers w/ disdain.

When Courtney Love complained, everyone said she was a liar.  Is GavinGwen now a liar too?  How many more bands have to speak out against Activisions disgraceful Guitar Hero handling?

It sounds like Activision negotiated in bad faith w/ the agents..and the artists were not fully informed on exactly what they were signing off on.

Just because Activision has the legal language buried in a contract does not mean a slam dunk, contracts are often meaningless in today's legal environment, which is going more and more towards out of court settlements.

If I gambled I would bet money this will never make it to court and both sides will settle.

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writinguy replied on 11-05-2009 8:55 PM

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They are playable characters in a music game. They are playing the roles of musicians. They aren't engaging in any behavior that is not music related. If they were being put into other non-musical situations, then I could see there, but these games are musical wish fulfillment,.

When a player uses one of those people on another persons/band's song, especially when the singing is involved, they are in essence doing a cover version. You the player as a fan of the band/performer you are playing as are doing a cover version as them.

Activision being greedy pricks is immaterial to this argument.

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cjclifford replied on 11-06-2009 5:42 AM

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Sounds like a crap lawsuit to me.  No Doubt should have been aware before the game's release that this was possible.  If they weren't aware this was possible, well, that makes them look stupid.

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G-Nitro replied on 11-06-2009 6:09 AM

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I think this is great. While I think the lawsuits are stupid, it means Activision is burning bridges in the music community. Activision's greed and horrible business practices are beginning to backfire on more and more games.

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mhatter106 replied on 11-06-2009 6:38 AM

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And the Guitar Hero franchise declines even further after Harmonix's departure.

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eaglefan replied on 11-06-2009 6:40 AM

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WTF? Activision is a great company, and No duoght, well what good games have they made?

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mafafu replied on 11-06-2009 6:47 AM

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eaglefan:

WTF? Activision is a great company, and No duoght, well what good games have they made?

No Doubt is Hella Good while Activision has become the new videogame Evil Empire. Activision needs to be taken down a notch or two.

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TenTonHammer23 replied on 11-06-2009 6:58 AM

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While in most cases I think lawsuits are stupid, I gotta say good job No Doubt.  Activision has been very underhanded in the past, and especially with all of this MW2 stuff going down with them and IW, plus crazy Courtney Love having the same issue, you gotta wonder what is going on in this contract signings.

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Solatso replied on 11-06-2009 7:26 AM

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After reading the article it sounds more like an issue of people needing to read the contract that they sign.  If you sign over the rights for someone to use your likeness you'd better be darn sure that you understand what that means.  I'd be willing to bet most of these "artists" don't read word one of anything they sign and leave it up to their management, who probably isn't always doing a thorough readthrough either.  I would imagine a company as big as Activision has some real "interesting" wording in those contracts that allow them to do pretty much whatever they want.

When it comes down to it a lot of these things are controlled by the record companies too and if you've ever seen a Behind Music episode ya know that Bands sign away their life on those things.

Word to the wise, know what you're putting your signature on.  I don't feel sorry for them at all, ignorance is no excuse.

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mrkekeru replied on 11-06-2009 7:56 AM

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mafafu:

eaglefan:

WTF? Activision is a great company, and No duoght, well what good games have they made?

No Doubt is Hella Good while Activision has become the new videogame Evil Empire. Activision needs to be taken down a notch or two.

And to think they were founded in protest over EA's practices back in the day. Almost funny.

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Kenny007 replied on 11-06-2009 8:02 AM

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TenTonHammer23:

While in most cases I think lawsuits are stupid, I gotta say good job No Doubt.  Activision has been very underhanded in the past, and especially with all of this MW2 stuff going down with them and IW, plus crazy Courtney Love having the same issue, you gotta wonder what is going on in this contract signings.

Agreed.

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