14 DAY TRIAL // Activision saw its shares of trouble when it decided to use the late Kurt Cobain's likeness in its Guitar Hero 5, and, since then, troubles with its rhythm games started pouring in. Now, it is once again sued by a band for the unlawful use of likeness in a video game. According to Los Angeles Times, No Doubt are the ones that will be dragging the game publisher to court. Rock Band was released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and 3 and on Nindento's Wii and DS, and featured three No Doubt songs, "Just a Girl," "Don't Speak," and "Excuse Me Mr." But the band's image can be used to perform the other 64 songs as well.
No Doubt's Manager, Jim Guerinot, talked to the LA Times and said that, "The band [members] are bitterly disappointed that their name and likeness was taken and used without their permission. They agreed to play three No Doubt songs as a band…Activision then went and put them in 62 other songs and broke the band up [and] never even asked." Even more, the band, and, most of all, lead singer Gwen Stefani, disapproved of the fact that they can be used to perform a song with controversial lyrics. "While No Doubt are avid fans of the Rolling Stones and even have performed in concerts with the Rolling Stones, the Character Manipulation Feature results in an unauthorized performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes," is stated in the lawsuit.
The big issue the band are trying to state is that Activision hid the information that their likeness would be used to perform other people's songs on purpose. The claim would seem to be very legit, and is becoming a common practice for the company. It did the same thing with Cobain in Guitar Hero 5 and, apparently, it had done the same with Jon Bon Jovi. "No one even broached the subject with me that I would be singing other people's stuff," the artist stated about his meeting with Activision. Of course, the huge company is no fool and it took the necessary legal precautions to keep itself out of any kind of financial disadvantages.
"Activision has a written agreement to use No Doubt in Band Hero – an agreement signed by No Doubt after extensive negotiations with its representatives, who collectively have decades of experience in the entertainment industry. ... As a result, Activision believes it is within its legal rights with respect to the use and portrayal of the band members in the game and that this lawsuit is without merit. Activision is exploring its own legal options with respect to No Doubt's obligations under the agreement." Well, isn't it a cheeky monkey with its fancy-lawyer talk and silver tongue. The fact that it didn't breach the contract is of no surprise to anyone, but, pretty soon, artists and popular figures in general will realize the same thing gamers have known for years: Activion is not to be trusted, and should be avoided whenever possible.