Activision has put a bullet in the whole [Music] Hero franchise. But like a terrible stench of a putrid corpse, the stupid lawsuits remain.
Activision is already trying to fend off Courtney Love suing over Kurt Cobain and other Nirvana members playing non-Nirvana songs in a video game, and now they have to deal with another annoying blonde.
Yes, No Doubt, which is actually still together as a band and still making music, is suing Activision for making their little avatars dance to other people’s songs because that’s somehow a violation of their copyright.
OK, technically No Doubt is suing for breach of contract, but this whole thing became ridiculous the minute it became clear it was about dancing avatars.
At issue is whether you could only use No Doubt characters for No Doubt songs, and whether you were allowed to make those avatars dance.
Apparently, among other things, the band is upset about being featured in sexually suggestive songs. You know, because Gwen Stefani is the definition of demure and modest and the band got its start in church.
Believe it or not, this actually started in 2009, and if you read between the lines of Gamespot’s interview with their attorney, it rapidly becomes clear that the reason this is still active is that Activision isn’t giving them the millions of dollars they somehow lost on a video game that sold about three million copies and which they were actually paid to appear in.
You also might be wondering why the case is ramping up now, a question easily answered by the fact the band has a new album coming in September, an album they’ve been working on for four years and will mark their first release in nearly a decade. In other words, they’re scared it’s going to tank and they need all the publicity they can get.
In short, this is one of those fights where mostly you just kind of hope both sides really brutally hurt each other for your own entertainment.
image courtesy Activision