Recently, American rock band The Romantics sued Activision because the Guitar Hero cover of their popular song, What I Like About You, "improperly imitates their sound, causing consumers to believe that The Romantics recorded the music and endorsed the product". In other words, they felt as though the Guitar Hero cover of their song was too similar to the original. Err ... is that not the point of cover songs?

Fortunately, common sense prevailed, and the judge denied The Romantics request to have the cover removed from Guitar Hero, as Activision had done everything right in gaining legal rights to own the cover.

A federal judge has denied a request by the rock band The Romantics to prevent Activision from using their song in Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.
As reported earlier, the band filed suit almost a month ago, alleging that the Guitar Hero recording of the song improperly imitates their sound, causing consumers to believe that The Romantics recorded the music and endorsed the product.

The judge who made the recent ruling indicated that, to the extent there were any copyright issues, Activision did exactly what the company was supposed to do in developing the product.

Miss Razz via gamesindustry.biz »