Guitar Hero Cover is just too accurate, The Romantics claim.

Nov 23, 2007 08:54 GMT  ·  By

The Romantics, a rock group that made some music in the 80s, sued Guitar Hero publisher Activision. The reason is one of the tracks present in the latest game in the series, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s which, they say, sounds too similar with the original version.

If things were that simple, it would be crystal clear that The Romantics are the victims and Activision are the greedy ones that wanted to get even richer by exploiting some unknown bands. But, like always, things are not that simple. Because the publisher secured permission to use the band's song in the game. So copyright violation is not the real issue here, but something vague The Romantics said it "infringed the group's right to it's own language and likeness" , because... the song in the game sounds like the original song. The song Activision has the rights to use, that is.

The song in debate is the greatest hit from The Romantics, "What I Like About You", recorded for the game by the music firm Wavegroup Sound, also mentioned in the suit they started. Similar cases, but with music from commercials though, were won in the past by artists like Tom Waits or Bette Midler, but this story is a little bit different.

"It's a very good imitation, and that's our objection. Even the guys in the band said, 'Wow, that's not us, but it sure sounds like us.'", said one of The Romantics' attorneys. And, allow me to say it again - it's the same song Activision bought the rights to create a cover! But, as the same attorney stated later on, this game has some huge sales and, therefore, the money flow is quite nice, too. Maybe it was that smell that encouraged such a suit. Or maybe the worldwide known band with their worldwide success song really doesn't like it when somebody sounds like them. But that's life, sometimes.

In case such a trial will be lost by Activision, they will most likely have to pay royalties for every sold copy of the game, though nothing is sure at the moment.