Rock group "No Doubt" have filed a law-suit over the band's appearance in Band Hero, Activision's latest spin-off of the Guitar Hero video game franchise. The group contend that the game has transformed them into "a virtual karaoke circus act," singing the songs of other bands.In the suit filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles Country Superior Court, No Doubt allege that Activision broke the contractually agreed use of the in-game likenesses of band members Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont and Adrian Young.
Band manager, Jim Guerinot said, "The band are bitterly disappointed that their name and likeness was taken and used without their permission. They agreed to play three No Doubt songs as a band. . . . Activision then went and put them in 62 other songs and broke the band up [and] never even asked."
According to the LA Times, No Doubt's contract with Activision allowed the Santa Monica-based company to use the band's avatars in no more than three of their own songs. The game allows players to place them, as a group or individuals, into more than 60 songs, "many of which include lyrics, contained in iconic songs, which are not appropriate for No Doubt and have not been and would not have been chosen by No Doubt for recordings or public performances."
It specifically notes that the game allows Stefani's image to sing the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women." The complaint says, "While No Doubt are avid fans of the Rolling Stones and even have performed in concerts with the Rolling Stones, the Character Manipulation Feature results in an unauthorized performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes."
The complaint also alleges that executives at Activision failed to disclose the character-manipulation feature, refusing to remove or disable it for the No Doubt avatars once the band learned of it. According to the suit, Activision told the band that it would be "too expensive."
The lawsuit asks for an unspecified amount of actual and punitive damages, a temporary restraining order against the game, as well preliminary and permanent injunctions against distribution of the game, including a recall of existing copies.
A spokesman for Activision told the LA Times that they had not seen the complaint and had no comment.
In September, the widow and former bandmates of Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain complained about the use of his likeness in Guitar Hero 5. In that case, Activision said they had received written permission from his widow to use him as a fully playable character, however she Twittered that she "never signed [off] on the avatar."
could anybody pick the band memebers, except gwen stefani, out of a line up?
The guy that looks like an Oompa Loompa?
Seriously though, I thought they broke up as a band when Gwen went off to sing ****ty pop songs.
I think it isn't the free advertisement they have in mind...
haha, love this post
+1
Huge, like "3-hit wonder" huge????
haha!
I have genuinely not heard of these guys before. Then again, I stopped following popular music from the mid-nineties onwards.
or am i wrong?
Clearly you're not reading properly. Activision broke a contract. Therefore they are being sued. Hardly No Doubt's fault Activision can't keep to their end of the bargain. In fact, it might well be about money, after all, Activision would've paid a certain amount based on the specifics of the contract, however by them breaking it, they've managed to do more outside the terms of the contract without having to pay the artists they used, which is clearly wrong.
Imagine if you were in this game and your avatar was singing Miley Cyrus songs in a female voice for all time.
In that case, I will hang myself. But really all these "kids" only knows about money and publicity, and haven't learnt self respect. The thing is, missuse of their likeness probably would turn them into a bit of joke, and this is what is ticking them off, as well as a break of contract.
Have you read the entire contract or did you just read a press release of the plantiff in an upcoming court case?
I like to make people prove their cases, something about due process.
Here's a question, do any of the bands complaining about Activision have the same lawyers, agents or publicists?
they should sue the players who actually choose the gwen stefani avatar for anything other than the 3 songs when they play
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