Activision Sued by THQ for Baja Box Art

THQ has filed suit against Activision alleging copyright and trade dress infringement. SCORE International Baja 1000 actually does look "virtually identical" to THQ's packaging for Baja Edge of Control. THQ urged the big A to uses different art, but after a million dollars worth of advertising, the A said no. THQ requested the game be enjoined and believes it will be entitled to the profits from the game.

Baja the belt, Activision!

Comparing the two packages, it is pretty clear that Activision at least referenced THQ's artwork. The similarities are ridiculous. The real question is why would Activision do this? Somehow, I doubt that they are actually trying to usurp THQ's customers in such an obvious, but not obviously effective, way.

UNLV Fight Song Composer Suing EA

EA, master of the official, released-every-year, sports video games, is being sued by the composer of the UNLV fight song, "Win With The Rebels," Gerard Willis. Willis claims that his song was not properly licensed and has been used in 10 EA titles including NCAA Basketball 2009, NCAA Football 2006 through 2009, NCAA March Madness 2006 through 2008, and NCAA Basketball 2006 and 2007. He is seeking $150,000 per count of copyright infringement, ie per game used, for a total of $1.5 million.

EA, You Rebels!

If he wins, not a bad payday for Mr. Willis. Somehow, I do not think UNLV pays him this much to use the song...

New Anti-Piracy Regulation Passes, ESA Stoked, Artists Not So Much

Congress passed the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008, or the PRO-IP Act, putting in place many provisions to help protect America's IP in the future. The Act creates an IP Czar tasked with overseeing US IP protection who reports directly to the president. It also outlines specific programs for IP enforcement, targets criminal organizations, and provides additional funding for the FBI and DOJ to crack down on hackers and pirates. While the bill is supported by the big dog media conglomerates, such as the RIAA and MPAA, consumer groups are not as happy as they see this as a victory for large media and an encroachment into legitimate fair use user's rights.

What's With All of the Czars?

Will this lead to more consumers being found by the government and nailed to the wall for piracy?

Obama Advertises in EA Games

Barack Obama, living the "Change We Can Believe In," began advertising in video games this past week. He bought ad space in a variety of EA titles that utilize Xbox Live, therefore allowing for constant updates. As the article notes, one game Burnout, came out in January but the ads will be running for a limited period of time right now. There was no mention of the price of the ads, but they were bought to target the video game sweet spot demographic of young males, traditionally tough to reach for political candidates.

Oburnout

Good to see that politicians are heeding the times.

EA Sued Over Spore DRM

Melissa Thomas did what many on the message boards have threatened but none had actually done: she is suing EA for its use of SecuROM, a anti-piracy device that apparently cannot be uninstalled, alleging deceit and concealment for bundling SecuROM with Spore. She thinks that the DRM software is too invasive and is seeking $5 million in damages. EA responded that, well, Spore has sold a million copies! I cannot tell if that hurts them or not...

SuckyROM

There has been so much hoopla about this DRM, it is hard to gauge whether its is a huge deal or if it is an overreaction. My impression is that 1.) never mess with a gamer's rig and 2.) the reaction should work as more of a deterrent for future behavior, as opposed to, there being actual damage caused by the DRM technology. What do you think?

Activision Suing Call of Duty Pirate

James Strickland is being sued by Activision for allegedly pirating Call of Duty 3 (that is so a few years ago!) and distributing it, along with some other unnamed games. Activision has since discovered what the unnamed games were and is seeking to amend the complaint to include those as well. The big A is suing for $150,000 per infringing copy. Ouch!

All My Booty 3: Gone

Without the details of the case, it is hard to judge whether this pirate is one of the masses of pirates out there or whether his operation was massive and worthy of being targeted like this. My guess is that Activision has better things to do than become the Metallica of video games (aren't they partners now?), but you never know with the juggernauts - sometimes they just roll.

Sony, Jaffe Sued Over Alleged God of War Idea Theft

Jonathan Bissoon-Dath and Barrette-Herzog, plaintiffs, sued for copyright infringment after claiming they sent creative materials to Sony before the production of God of War, including a script and illustrative map, and that Sony subsequently ripped them off in making their huge blockbuster of a game. Sony responded claiming that the allegations were inaccurate, incomplete, and misguided. Plaintiffs wanted to name the game The Adventures of Owen: Owen's Olympic Adventure.

At Least We Know Sony Didn't Take The Name!

I find this case hard to believe based on the name of P's game alone. Who would think up the awesomeness that is GoW, only to name it like it should feature, Izzy the Olympic douche?