Capcom joins R4 lawsuit

According to a report on Game Politics, Capcom is the latest company to join in on a lawsuit against R4 flash cartridge makers using Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act as the hammer.

Capcom joined Nintendo and 53 other game publishers in this lawsuit that hopes to curtail the use of this game copying device for the Nintendo DS. While Nintendo managed to get an injunction against the makers of these devices last year in a Tokyo court, that doesn’t seem to have had much impact of the situation.

“We are expecting the entire society including users to recognize that our company and other software manufactures have extremely sustained damages from proliferation of illegal instruments, such as the Game Copying Devices,” said Capcom is a statement today. “..and the computer industries have sustained serious damages because of those vendors, and we expect to influence the society to eliminate such illegal instruments from the market.”

It will be interesting to see if Nintendo and friends can do anything to curtail the use of the R4 in Japan. While it’s not impossible, it won’t be easy either. It will be a lot harder to deal with the use of the R4 in places like China where piracy and black markets are an integral part of the consumer shopping experience.

Bethesda sues Interplay over Fallout

According to published reports, Bethesda Softworks is not happy with Interplay over Fallout. So unhappy in fact that it has decided to sue them. According to this Gamasutra report, Bethesda filed a complaint in U.S. District Court of Maryland earlier this month in an attempt to restrict Interplay from selling older titles like Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics. Interplay sold the rights to the Fallout brand to Bethesda.

The problem stems from Interplay selling that trio of games under the name “Fallout Trilogy,” which irks Bethesda, who happen to make the third game, Fallout 3. Interplay was previously allowed to sell the older games it created (Fallout 1, 2 and the spin-off Fallout Tactics), but Bethesda alleges in court that it want to put a stop to it because Interplay did not seek prior approval for packaging and marketing the game package.

Bethesda also alleges a breach of contract over an agreement with Interplay to develop a massively multiplayer online game based on the Fallout license. Under the terms of that deal, Interplay was required to find $30 million USD in funding and then begin development of the game by April of this year. This did not happen in the timeframe agreed to, says Bethesda.

We’ll follow this story as it continues to develop.

Nirvana, Love weigh in on Cobain in Guitar Hero 5

Two of Nirvana’s three surviving band members are not very happy with the way Activision’s Guitar Hero 5 portrays Kurt Cobain. How displeased? Well, apparently enough to issue a joint statement sharing their disapproval.

Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, former bassist and drummer for Nirvana, respectively, have issued a statement about how the game portrays Cobain in a way that they feel is inappropriate. While both have no legal say in the matter, they said that they were dismayed and disappointed with Kurt’s avatar being used related to non-Nirvana songs and doing things uncharacteristic of his persona.

The duo have asked Activision to lock the avatar so that it can be used for only Nirvana songs. Of course, that probably won’t happen unless fans complain about it enough, because the idea of an unlockable character is that you use him or her any way you see fit. Instead, perhaps Activision should alter the animation so that it doesn’t allow him to do anything unbecoming of a grunge icon.

Meanwhile, Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, is using twitter to lambaste Activision, promising a lawsuit over the way her husband is being portrayed in the game. Obviously she didn’t show due dilligence in protecting that image when she or entities that represented her signed licensing agreements for the game.

“For the record this Guitar Hero shit is breach of contract on a Bullys part and there will be a proper addressing of this and retraction,” Love tweeted. “WE are going to sue the shit out of Activision we being the Trust the Estate the LLC the various LLCs Cobain Enterprises.”

For its part Activision has only said the following: “Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero 5.”

While Activision probably hasn’t done anything that could harm them in a court of law, it could have done a better job of respecting Cobain’s image and legacy. Having Kurt Cobain act in that manner would be like putting Jim Morrison in Guitar Hero 5 and having him moonwalk.

Source: MTV Multiplayer, Joystiq

Square Enix wins Advent Children infringement lawsuit

Square Enix has prevailed in its copyright infringement lawsuit against Korean entertainment production company Fantom Entertainment Group and music video producer Hong Jeong-ho. The lawsuit came to fruition when the company was given 300 Million Korean Won (approx. US $244,000) at the conclusion of the trial in March 2008. Following an appeal lodged by the defendants, on July 3, 2009, the Seoul High Court ruled that Fantom and Hong Jeong-ho should pay 400 Million Korean Won (approx. US $326,000) to Square Enix.

“We have been consistent in our claims during this lawsuit regarding the value of FINAL FANTASY VII ADVENT CHILDRENTM and our FINAL FANTASY series, as well as the damages the company has suffered as a result of the modification and adaptation made without obtaining permission,” said Yasuhiko Hasegawa, Square Enix’s General Counsel, in a statement this week. “The initial amount awarded in this case, 300 Million Korean Won, was the largest the courts in South Korea have ever awarded in cases infringing one single work of art, and having this figure increased to 400 Million Korean Won following an appeal by the defendants is further affirmation of the severity of this copyright infringement as well as the recognition and value the FINAL FANTASY series has attained in South Korea. Square Enix will continue to take decisive action against any infringements upon our intellectual property, recognizing that this property is one of our most crucial resources.”

In March 2007, Fantom began the for-profit online distribution of a music video for the song Sonata of Temptation by popular Korean pop singer IVY containing an unauthorized live-action scene-for-scene adaptation of a scene from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. In response to an injunction filed by Square Enix, the Seoul Central District Court ordered Fantom to cease distribution and sales of the video as of April 6, 2007, and subsequently, on March 13, 2008, ordered Fantom to pay damages of 300 Million Korean Won. Fantom and Hong Jeong-ho appealed this decision and the case was elevated to the Seoul High Court, which on July 3, 2009, issued the decision ordering Fantom and Hong Jeong-ho to pay damages of 400 Million Korean Won.

Verdict delayed in Brutal Legend lawsuit

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has delayed a ruling on the Brutal Legend lawsuit between developer Double Fine Productions and former-publisher turned adversary Activision. But even with a delay on this ruling, it doesn’t look good for Activision. A ruling on the case has been suspended until August 6, but Los Angeles Superior Court judge Craig Karlan promised to have a final ruling on the case prior to EA’s August 8 deadline for the game.

Activision began this legal battle against the developer in June, with claims that it still owned the rights to publish the game and that it had invested nearly $15 million into the project. Brutal Legend was supposed to be published by Vivendi Universal Games before the company was bought by Activision to form Activision Blizzard last year.

While the judge emphasized in court that neither side had the upper-hand in the case, he also told lawyers for Activision that he didn’t have confidence in their case: “I can’t say there’s a likelihood of success here.” he commented.

Expect to hear a more definitive ruling next week on Thursday, August 6.

THQ prevails in WWE licensing dispute

THQ announced this afternoon that it has prevailed in an arbitration hearings against JAKKS Pacific, the company’s partner in a joint venture meant to deal with the WWE license related to video games. The binding arbitration, which was in the terms of the operating agreement should both parties not agree, came to the conclusion that JAKKS Pacific should have been given a lower preferred return payment for WWE video games sold under a license granted by World Wrestling Entertainment to the joint venture, THQ/JAKKS Pacific LLC.

As a result, a new rate, which is 40 percent below the previous rate, reaches all the way back to July 1, 2006 and applies through December 31, 2009. Because of this, THQ will receive approximately $23 million during the fiscal 2010 second quarter ending September 30, 2009.

Under the terms of the HQ/JAKKS Pacific LLC. operating agreement, JAKKS Pacific was to be paid a preferred return from sales of the LLC’s WWE-licensed video games. The preferred return rate was to be reset for the period beginning July 1, 2006 through December 31, 2009 but both companies could not agree on a new preferred return rate. Because of this THQ filed a suit to compel arbitration pursuant to the terms of the operating agreement.

Naturally THQ is happy about this and will continue to reap the rewards from the SmackDown vs. RAW series as well as Legends of WrestleMania.

ESA vs. the Chicago Transit Authority

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), challenging the CTA’s prohibition on certain computer and video game advertisements as a violation of the guarantees of free speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleges that the CTA is unfairly targeting the entertainment software industry by enacting an ordinance that selectively bans advertisements of computer and video games rated “Mature 17+” (M) or “Adults Only 18+” (AO).

In January of this year, the CTA enacted Ordinance 008-147, prohibiting any advertisement that “markets or identifies a video or computer game rated “Mature 17+” (M) or “Adults Only 18+” (AO).” The ESA’s suit contends that this new ordinance is unconstitutional and restricts speech in a public forum that is otherwise open to all speakers without a compelling interest for doing so. In addition, the complaint argues that the ordinance discriminates on the basis of viewpoint and ignores less restrictive means of achieving the supposed ends of the ordinance.