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Guitar Hero Maker Sued - Cover Song Too Awesome
volpone writes "The band "The Romantics" are suing Activision over their wedding reception favorite, 'What I Like About You,' which appears in Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the '80s. The problem is not copyright infringement; Activision had permission to make a cover version of the song. No, the problem is that the cover sounds too much like the original. 'The band's attorneys have indicated that they are seeking an injunction that would force the game to be withdrawn from sale. Although around half of the songs in the newly released Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock feature recordings by the original artists, in previous Guitar Hero games the majority of songs were cover versions.'" In not totally-unrelated news you can download the Mjolnir mix of the Halo theme for play on GHIII, free, today.
By taking the Fourier-transform of the song, and then the Inverse Fourier-Transform, you're making a cover. A remix by most - but not a plagiate.
:(){
A washed-up 80's band with two hits to its name sues because a cover band was able to duplicate their syrupy bubble-gum pop sound. The mind boggles.
One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.
BTW, when I was a kid and compilations of hits by cover groups was common (sorta like "Kidz Bop" now is) rarely would compilations of the original songs be offered on TV due to the high costs of getting the licenses. But I remember one TV offer in particular that was a group of recent hits and the name of the cover group was "The Original Artists." The come-on was something like: "20 of 19xx's greatest hits all by 'The Original Artists." I still LOL over the marketing slimeball that came up with that one.
"Any percieved similarity to the original song is unintended. Rock out!"
"If you complete this song on Expert, it may be considered a threat to the original band's income!"
"Dear The Romantics, remember when it used to be about the music?"
"If your only fans are the RIAA, then go back to the nursing home."
Let's all boycott buying Romantics albums!!!
That'll show 'em!
more cowbell!
sig has been sent away for a few small repairs...
This common phrase has been changed to "Imitation is the highest form of infringement" or at least it was until it was sued by the owners of the original flattery statement due to copyright infringement.
Sam "to lazy to register" Look
The band's attorneys have indicated that they are seeking an injunction that would force the game to be withdrawn from sale.
I've been trying to buy the Wii version for the kids; as far as I can tell, they've succeeded.
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
Saying that the in-game character lip syncs "Girl You Know Its True" better than they did.
Yeah, my karma sucks....but so do the mods.
The Kinks oughta sue themselves for plagiarism. "Paranoia" is essentially the same song as "All Day and All of the Night." :)
"Slow down, Cowboy! It has been 3 years, 7 months and 26 days since you last successfully posted a comment."
Agreed. To me, this third point is the most damning to whatever case the Romantics might have.
I find myself wondering: what damages do the Romantics suppose they have endured? Given that they were prepared to have their song covered in the game, the only motivation for suing that I can think of is that the Romantics don't like the idea the world might think that the actual Romantics participated in the making of the game... because (and I'm grabbing at straws here) that might mean the Romantics are washed up? But if game players assume they're hearing the Romantics, I don't think game players would notice or care, at least not to the Romantics' detriment. The songs making it onto the game are arguably the greats/classics... GH isn't looking to include crap, for obvious reasons. And there's no reason to suppose that the Romantics played the song again instead of simply giving access to the originally recorded tracks anyhow.
I just don't get where the Romantics are coming from on this. It's what I dislike about them. Won't keep me home at night though.
- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
I can download whatever I want for free any time I want!