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Guitar Hero World Tour Won't Allow Copyright Infringement

Posted by Soulskill on from the to-be-expected dept.

1Up did an interview with two of the developers for Guitar Hero: World Tour about the process of creating the game. One of the interesting things they mention is that they won't be putting up with people who use the song creation tools to make covers of existing songs. "We'll be actively monitoring the site. And, obviously, if the copyright holder complains, Activision will pull it down immediately. We can't condone people putting up covers of music. It's really there for original content." We discussed the creation tools themselves recently. Since then, Activision has announced that they'll be including a MIDI sequencer to assist with making your own tunes.

22 of 92 comments (clear)

  1. Does this mean no sampling too? by SomeJoel · · Score: 2, Funny

    I mean, you could probably make a fairly successful song if you sampled an old live Rolling Stones concert and played the main hook backwards over and over.

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    <Complete your profile by adding a signature!>
    1. Re:Does this mean no sampling too? by philspear · · Score: 4, Informative

      If memory serves me correctly, there was that song "bittersweet symphony" back in the 90s that sampled part of a rolling stones song. The guy who owned the rights to that song (not the rolling stones, I think it was a manager type who screwed the stones out of the rights to their song) sued them and eventually gained rights to that song as well. He promptly whored it out to nike or some other large corporation, against the wishes of the guys who actually made the song, in addition to keeping every last dime of profits. And you could argue also ensured the song would be overplayed, annoying, and that The Verve would be a one hit wonder everyone was sick of 3 months later.

      Certainly a strong argument against the status quo.

      Anyway, I'm assuming if given the chance, that particular asshole would try to sue activision for all they're worth if you did.

    2. Re:Does this mean no sampling too? by Cow+Jones · · Score: 5, Informative

      The song that the violin sample is from is the Andrew Oldham Orchestra's version of The Last Time. What really bugs me about the lawsuit is that the Verve actually did clear the sample! They had the right to use it in their song, but in the copyright holder's opinion (and the court's), they used too much of it. Go figure.

      Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_Sweet_Symphony

      CJ

      --

      Ah, arrogance and stupidity, all in the same package. How efficient of you. -- Londo Mollari
    3. Re:Does this mean no sampling too? by Blackwulf · · Score: 2, Informative

      You can't record on the vocal track. You have to use the in-game instruments only - no external samples.

    4. Re:Does this mean no sampling too? by Forrest+Kyle · · Score: 2, Funny

      Let me get this straight: Because one man wanted to be a jerk and make tons of money, The Verve will never be heard from again?

      Buy that man a beer! He deserves our gratitude for saving us from having to spend another five minutes listening to crappy bands like The Verve.

    5. Re:Does this mean no sampling too? by halcyon1234 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It's true. Turning to the Ongoing History of New Music transcripts (which, for some reason, are bizarrely out of format...):

      If you're a fan of The Verve, you obviously know the song 'Bittersweet Symphony' from their 1997 album, Urban Hymns. It was the biggest hit of the band's career and the song that helped The Verve sell millions of albums around the world. However, you may also have heard that Verve didn't make a cent on 'Bittersweet Symphony', that is absolutely 100% true. The problem lies in a six-second sample based on a cover version of a Rolling Stones song...let me explain. In the mid-60s, Andrew Loog Oldham was the Stones' manager and producer. He also formed something called 'The Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra', which specialized in orchestral versions of pop songs of the day. In June 1966, the Orchestra released something called the Rolling Stones Songbook. Track 11 on the album was an orchestral version of a Stones song called 'The Last Time', this is where the six second sample The Verve used for Bittersweet Symphony came from. Through some monumental screw-ups, The Verve never properly and legally cleared the use of that sample. As a result, Andrew Loog Oldham, who, by this time, was living in Cartagena, Colombia, was moved to sue. He did, and he won, that meant all the royalties generated by 'Bittersweet Symphony' and a chunk of the royalties generated by sales of Urban Hymns were funneled to Andrew's bank account in South America. This also explains why 'Bittersweet Symphony' turned up in a Nike commercial even while the song was still on the charts. It's now Oldham's song to do with what he pleases. The Verve were not amused, and they soon broke up. Did this issue have something to do with it'...do ya think' For adding a few more cents into Andrew Loog Oldham's bank account, and also the accounts of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, The Verve's 'Bittersweet Symphony' is a good lesson kids...clear your samples!

      In another show (that I can't find in the transcripts, but I'm sure its there in the archive), Cross explains the "monumental screw-ups". Basically, the legalese read something along the lines of "50% of the royalties of the song go to the song owners", and then defined the owners as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards-- and THEN was worded in a way that said "Mick Jagger, an owner, gets 50%. Keith Richards, an owner, gets 50%". And thus, 100% of royalties for the song went straight to the Olding Stones.

      --
      UTF-8: There and Back Again
  2. I wonder if... by megamerican · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wonder if "covers" of songs made with Mario Paint ever get DMCA take down notices.

    --
    If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
    1. Re:I wonder if... by Poltras · · Score: 2, Funny

      Seriously, this is the best I've seen in a while.

      Dude. Dude! Dude, dude... I guess you have a point.

      --
      Of Code And Men
    2. Re:I wonder if... by Sparton · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What I want to know is what will happen when people start remixing video game themes from Mega Man, Halo, Metal Gear, etc. For me, one of the largest selling points for this game is being able to arrange my own versions of these prominent video game compositions.

  3. Go Old-School by Jabbrwokk · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Lame. Companies need to understand that fan-made content extends product life and popularity, and keeps their product selling off the shelves.

    Guess the kids are going to have to be old-school guitar heroes, playing their real guitars along to illegally downloaded MP3s of their favourite songs. Maybe they'll even develop real talents of their own, instead of making burned-out has-been rock star geezers even richer.

    1. Re:Go Old-School by westlake · · Score: 3, Funny
      Maybe they'll even develop real talents of their own
      .

      and maybe if they had talent they would be performing their own material.

      the geek's notion of creativity seems to begin and end in imitation - when he writes, it's fan fiction. when he plays music, it's a cover.

      give him a video camera and his first thought will be to recreate an episode of Star Trek: TOS.

    2. Re:Go Old-School by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Most guitarists at least start out imitating what they've heard other people play. You need to learn how to play the instrument before you can start writing your own music on it.

    3. Re:Go Old-School by Khyber · · Score: 3, Funny

      Actually my first thought with a video camera was to record the girl next-door. Then to immediately record me killing a black widow with a stun gun.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  4. Woe to he who does a cover of..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Happy Birthday!

  5. Yes but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Performances are allowed under copyright. So how is this copyright infringement?

    1. Re:Yes but by Poltras · · Score: 3, Funny

      Guys guys. Let's not talk about Guitar Hero 5 DLC business plan right away, okay?

      --
      Of Code And Men
  6. Who Cares? by morari · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The music creator doesn't even allow for any sort of vocalizing. That instantly makes it pretty darn lame, and inherently limited/shallow.

    --
    "He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
    1. Re:Who Cares? by skam240 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, instrumentals are obviously huge based off your long list of (mostly) fringe artists with extremely popular instrumental songs. I can't turn on the radio without hearing instrumental after instrumental.

      Wait, no. I can't remember the last time I heard an instrumental on the radio without tuning into a classical station. Now, I'm not saying a taste for instrumental rock (or any other instrumental music) is bad or anything but it is far from mainstream. Most people playing guitar hero are looking to play music with some relevancy to popular music.

      --
      I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
  7. Get the PC version by rtechie · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They're just MIDI guitar tracks, widely used with FretsOnFirehttp://fretsonfire.sourceforge.net/.

    There will almost certainly be a way to work around this on the PC, mainly because NOBODY is going to use the PITA creation tools on the 360 and PS3. It's almost infinitely easier to do it with a MIDI sequencer.

    Annoyingly, it looks like the MIDI songs will only be usable on the PS3, not the 360. It is probably due to their tools being MIDI-to-USB. The PS3 is pure USB so that's why it works on that platform.

    This is highly annoying for me, because I was going to get the 360 version and I wanted to import my own MIDI tracks. Looks like I'm going to HAVE to go with the PC version now. Does anybody know if the 360 instruments are the same as the PC instruments?

  8. Re:But but... by Tenek · · Score: 5, Funny

    No Stairway.

  9. Too far? by sleeponthemic · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm not one of those people who say "go buy a real guitar" but I have to say, when you're at the point where you're midi sequencing stuff to play in guitar hero, you're also at the point where you're ready to start looking into making your own music. Particularly when you're restricted from emulating copyrighted songs.

    --
    I record my sleeptalking
  10. Re:But but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Denied!