Legal

No Doubt score double win in Activision dispute

By | Published on Monday 19 April 2010

Two efforts by gaming giant Activision to defend themselves against No Doubt’s previously reported lawsuit in relation to the ‘Band Hero’ game have been knocked back by the US courts.

As previously reported, No Doubt objected to the way their avatars in the pretend-to-play game could be ‘unlocked’ to play songs other than their own. The band say the gaming firm didn’t have the rights to use their likenesses in that way.

As with when Courtney Love raised similar objections to the fact Kurt Cobain’s likeness could be made to perform non-Nirvana tracks, Activision denied any wrongdoing, claiming the artists knew what they were signing up to. That said, it’s thought the agreement between Activision and its artist partners doesn’t actually specifically cover the use of an artist’s avatar in songs other than their own, so this whole area is a bit greyer than the gaming firm originally implied.

This is possibly why Activision’s bounce back to No Doubt’s lawsuit included a claim that their use of Gwen Stefani’s avatar in tracks other than her own was covered by their First Amendment freedom of speech rights, and that the dispute was a copyright issue, not a right-of-publicity issue, and should therefore be moved to the Federal courts.

An LA judge last week refused both of those claims by the gaming company, meaning No Doubt’s action will now proceed as they originally planned; though Activision have said they do plan to appeal last week’s rulings.

Given that it seems Activision’s contracts weren’t especially explicit on the use of an artist’s likeness in songs other than their own, some are wondering why the gaming company is trying so hard to fight this dispute in the courts. Presumably they fear No Doubt will demand mega-bucks in any out of court settlement, and that such a deal would lead to similar claims from other previously featured artists. But by fighting No Doubt in this way, some industry insiders say the games firm could find it increasingly hard to sign up acts for future editions of their ‘Hero’ franchise.



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