No Doubt Gets the Go-Ahead on Activision Lawsuit

Scott Bullock

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No Doubt Gets the Go-Ahead on Activision Lawsuit

No Doubt, the band behind hits like "Don't Speak" and "Underneath it All", has been given the OK by the California Court of Appeals to pursue their lawsuit against Activision over misusing their likenesses in 2009's Band Hero.

Two years ago, No Doubt slapped down by the court [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/95933-No-Doubt-Sues-Activision-Over-Band-Hero], specifically the parts claiming that using the avatars in whatever way it wanted was free speech. Activision took that finding to appeals court, which was just recently upheld by the California Court of Appeals.

No Doubt's lawyers made specific mention of the ability to make band frontwoman Gwen Stefani sing the Rolling Stones song "Honky Tonk Woman," the result being "an unauthorized performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes," and called the whole affair a "virtual karaoke circus act."

Whether or not the suit actually goes forward depends on Activision choosing to further appeal the case, which will likely hinge on the outcome of a similar case being heard by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in which several ex-college football players are suing EA and the NCAA [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/thr-esq/appeals-court-showdown-future-celebrity-99473] over the use of their likenesses without their permission.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/thr-esq/appeals-court-allows-no-doubt-100278]


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TeeBs

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I'm not exactly law savy but wouldn't the use of Gwen's likeness be considered a parody which as far as I know is legal.
 

SelectivelyEvil13

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TeeBs said:
I'm not exactly law savy but wouldn't the use of Gwen's likeness be considered a parody which as far as I know is legal.
I don't play Guitar Hero, but I believe that any real life "bands" in the game are meant to be a representation, not comedic parody. The game avatars are meant to be like the band, not poke fun at them or anything, in spite of any cartoonish graphics. Or at least, that was how I perceived Guitar Hero and its usage of real life singers and band members. If they did parody bands, I might actually have taken an interest in some clever prodding at overrated singers...
 

Throwitawaynow

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SelectivelyEvil13 said:
TeeBs said:
I'm not exactly law savy but wouldn't the use of Gwen's likeness be considered a parody which as far as I know is legal.
I don't play Guitar Hero, but I believe that any real life "bands" in the game are meant to be a representation, not comedic parody. The game avatars are meant to be like the band, not poke fun at them or anything, in spite of any cartoonish graphics. Or at least, that was how I perceived Guitar Hero and its usage of real life singers and band members. If they did parody bands, I might actually have taken an interest in some clever prodding at overrated singers...
The band and the activision had a contract which had things they could or could not do. The game featured things the contract said activision could not do. Or atleast that's what the article seems to say.
 

Therumancer

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I don't know the details of the contract, and what might have been said verbally. It's hard for me to say if "No Doubt" is getting greedy like a lot of bands and musicians seem to be over their songs appearing in these games, or if Activision was exploiting them. Heck, the two don't even have to be mutally exclusive.

In the end though I think these kinds of fights, big and small, is what is killing the entire music game genere, and a big part of why Activision is talking about the genere making a return at some point, implying they don't plan to continue supporting it much, win or lose in suits like this.

I tend to think in terms of greed, probably from the "lesser" members of the band (probably with the consent of Gwen since they at least were freinds at one point, performing together). I can't see Gwen Stefani with a fairly successful solo career and probably a few million dollars to her name, being genuinely upset over the way her Avatar can be used because she hardly seemed to take herself that seriously going by a lot of the videos I've seen. Of course I could be wrong. Unless she partied it all away (and she never struck me as being stupid) she's probably got a few million dollars sticking out of her back pocket and no need to ever work again if she doesn't want to. The other members of "No Doubt" didn't seem to go anywhere (though I don't know for sure, I don't follow it heavily) and for them the money to be made off of a liscence like this is probably substantial, and a big payout from Activision could allow them to pretty much retire in relative comfort. As I said, it's hard to say, and I don't know much about what any of these people are like behind their stage personas.

This isn't isolated though, even if they aren't always big press, it seems like there is always SOME musician trying to get a bigger payout through the legal system, either from these games, or other products. Largely because a lot of these guys strike me as not being too smart (as talented as they might be) and either having gotten boned on contracts when they were performing, or have wasted all their money on drugs and garbage. It seems to me that a lot of musicians were happy to see these games so they could make money off songs and their image when they hadn't been able to for years, but then when they saw the potential decided to try for a cash grab. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of them feel they are justified for screwing with video game companies, simply because other people played legal games with them in stealing the benefits of their work.
 

Something Amyss

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TeeBs said:
I'm not exactly law savy but wouldn't the use of Gwen's likeness be considered a parody which as far as I know is legal.
What about this would you say falls under parody?
 

brunothepig

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Rationalization said:
SelectivelyEvil13 said:
TeeBs said:
I'm not exactly law savy but wouldn't the use of Gwen's likeness be considered a parody which as far as I know is legal.
I don't play Guitar Hero, but I believe that any real life "bands" in the game are meant to be a representation, not comedic parody. The game avatars are meant to be like the band, not poke fun at them or anything, in spite of any cartoonish graphics. Or at least, that was how I perceived Guitar Hero and its usage of real life singers and band members. If they did parody bands, I might actually have taken an interest in some clever prodding at overrated singers...
The band and the activision had a contract which had things they could or could not do. The game featured things the contract said activision could not do. Or atleast that's what the article seems to say.
I'm pretty sure it was just a case of this was ignored by the contract. So it said nothing about the likeness being used for other songs, one way or the other.
Why is this happening again? This is what Cobain's ex did isn't it?
It's stupid, and pathetic.
In my opinion, anyway. Hopefully this gets slapped down fairly quickly, and No Doubt just ends up losing a lot of money on legal fees. That would make me happy.
 

vxicepickxv

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Sandytimeman said:
wow...that is incredibly petty. I just lost a bit of respect for No Doubt.
Oddly enough, I see it as individuals standing up to a giant corporation, which means that I actually give them respect.

As for the NCAA/EA and players case, I'm not at all familiar with the NCAA contract. If the contract says that you're pretty much ours to do with as we wish, then it's going to be pretty much thrown out on different grounds.
 

dibblywibbles

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uh oh the rich suing the super rich. this is just tragic. no wonder people won't pay for their music anymore. they'll probably sue me for saying that.
 

Ihniwid

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I honestly do not see it as "stupid and pathetic". You sign a contract for a game developer to use your likeness with your songs in a digital medium. Then you later discover that your likeness is being used to sing "Honky Tonk Woman". The lead singer of No-Doubt is female. The vocals on "Honky Tonk" are male.

So while you initially signed a contract for your likeness to be used to help promote your songs in a viritual space, it later becomes parody. This is different than Activision initially using such likeness as parody to begin with.

This all sounds like a problem on Activision's end. The legal team and the creative teams are not discussing what can - and cannot - be done within the digital work.
 

Sean Strife

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TeeBs said:
I'm not exactly law savy but wouldn't the use of Gwen's likeness be considered a parody which as far as I know is legal.
If that were the case, then Christian Weston Chandler could legally make money from his Sonichu comics without fear of a lawsuit from Nintendo and Sega...

...yeah, I went there.

My point is, I do believe No Doubt are well within their legal rights to sue Activision for this. But given how deep the Kotick Empire's pockets are, I doubt it'll put TOO much of a dent in them and they'll probably make it up in no time. I also didn't realize No Doubt was still performing, given that Gwen Stefani has gone on to a "successful" solo career.
 

Scytail

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OT: No Doubt is still around? Wow.

Interested to see how this pans out. Am forseeing that if they do win their case this wont be the last music group to sue the people that put out the various Rock Band, Band Hero, Guitar Hero games.