14 DAY TRIAL // We said it before and so did The Romantics' attorneys: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock has some nice sales and the money flow seems quite appalling. That's the reason some people might decide to file law suits against others, even though The Others (and I'm not talking about the movie here) have bought the rights to use... a song, let's say.
So, for no one's surprise, a federal judge in Detroit decided against The Romantics pleas to have their song removed from the game (and, especially, to receive royalties from Activision for every sold copy of the game). And since Activison has bought the rights to use this band's song (I have to repeat that information over and over again because that's the most important thing about the whole case)... so, as we were saying, since Activison bought the rights, Federal Judge Edmunds declared that the company did exactly what they were supposed to do in terms of securing song copyright.
"Activision is pleased with the ruling and thinks that the case is without merit," the company said in a statement today. "Respect for artists is an important value of the company and Activision has a long history of supporting artists from a range of entertainment fields. The company believes videogames represent a growing opportunity for the music industry to reach new audiences and a strong source of potential license revenue for both bands and music publishers."
So, everybody feels sorry for The Romantics because they didn't manage to get some money from Activision, have their song removed from the Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s or even get the entire Guitar Hero franchise banned. Because, indeed, their original "What I Like About You" sounds very much like the one in Guitar Hero. Yes, it's the same song Activision has bought the rights for. Neext!