Is Activision really getting sued again? No Doubt!

TMZ reports that the band No Doubt is suing Activision for "the unauthorized use of the No Doubt's name and likeness," in Band Hero, released on November 2. The band is suing for an injunction prohibiting the use of the band members' likenesses in songs other than the three No Doubt tracks included in the game, and seeks an undisclosed amount of damages.

The lawsuit, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, claims that the game "transformed No Doubt band members into a virtual karaoke circus act," a statement indicative of being able to play any of the game's more than 60 tracks using No Doubt avatars... Read more

The Entertainment Software Association has filed a suit against the Chicago Transit Authority, claiming that CTA's new policy to not display advertisements for mature-rated games violates free speech and threatens the "creative freedoms of our industry."

The controversy began last year, when the media began questioning why the Chicago Transit Authority was carrying advertisements for Grand Theft Auto IV in the wake of then-recent violent events, though the ads themselves weren't violent in any way.

Shortly after, the Chicago Transit Authority pulled the advertisements, and, after a lawsuit, reinstated the ads while noting that it would no longer carry ads for... Read more

Duke Nukem series creator 3D Realms/Apogee Ltd. has responded to publisher Take-Two's lawsuit over the incomplete state of Duke Nukem Forever, revealing that 3DR is continuing to work on the long-delayed title alongside word that a previously unknown separate Duke game was in the works at a "well-known videogame developer."

The new effort, titled "Duke Begins," was part of the October 2007 Agreement that saw Take-Two provide 3D Realms with $2.5 million. That sum was paid July 2008 in order to "help fund the development of the DNF game," with 3D Realms having previously said the money was "in connection with another agreement for an unannounced game."

The Take-Two-published Duke Begins was slated for release by mid-2010, with development set to begin within 2 months of the October 2007 agreement and 3D Realms stating that it needed to approve "any changes to that... Read more

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Lair developer Factor 5 is being sued by former employees for fraudulent behaviour in the wake of its bankruptcy, Gamasutra reports.

The suit alleges that before Factor 5 closed in May, to avoid paying its debts the studio's founders transferred all assets--including source code and intellectual property--to Blue Harvest, a new company under their control which continues to develop the projects.

Factor 5 reportedly faced 69 claims from employees of unpaid wages totalling over $900,000 soon after it closed. The studio was also believed to be up to $10 million in debt to various creditors, including a $4 million loan from LucasArts in 2003.

Blue Harvest, by the way, was a fake working title used by Lucasfilm to conceal the production of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Both the allegedly production-hiding company--since renamed White Harvest--and the Factor 5 founders have yet to respond.

Update: 3D Realms/Apogee Ltd. founder Scott Miller has chimed in with his thoughts:

Do readers here realize that filed lawsuits are entirely one-sided statements, based on knee-deep BS and with more spin that[sic] a top?

3DR has been in nearly a dozen lawsuits (including against Warner and Fox). We're always innocent, and we always win. This one is no exception. Give it a year, then the truth will come out.

Original: More documents relevant to the ongoing courtroom drama between Duke Nukem Forever developer 3D Realms/Apogee Ltd. and publisher Take-Two have been released, shedding new light on the circumstances that lead to the termination of the game's dev team and the subsequent lawsuit over the game's incomplete state.

The team handling the long-in-development shooter was let go on May 6, with 3D Realms later explaining that this stemmed from funding issues after negotiations with Take-Two fell through and the publisher made an "unacceptable" last minute proposal "to acquire the Duke Nukem franchise and the 3DR development team."

The court documents reveal that those negotiations were related to an Xbox 360 port of the anticipated game, which Apogee subsidiary 3D Realms was crafting for the PC.

In early 2009, Take-Two "solicited" 3D Realms to see if the studio could co-develop an Xbox 360 edition. In the following negotiations, 3D Realms apparently "demanded that Take-Two fully fund Apogee's reaching certain milestones" if it was... Read more

Update 2: Further AP details reveal more of Activision's complaint. The publisher claims Double Fine was paid $15 million to develop Brutal Legend but missed a key deadline last year, allegedly stating that another nine months and $7 million were needed.

While no agreement to get Brutal Legend back on course was ever reached, Activision contests it never gave up publishing rights and as such Double Fine could not take the game to EA. Activision bemoans the loss of its investment not only in Brutal Legend itself, but the ability to sell seemingly lucrative Legend-based downloadable content.

Update: The official Brutal Legend Twitter received a simple update, since removed:

Re: today's bummer news...in the words of the inimitable Ms. Beyonce Knowles, "If you liked it you shoulda put a ring on it".

Original story: Activision is suing Double Fine Productions to stop the release of Brutal Legend, The Associated Press reported, claiming it still holds a valid contract to publish the heavy metal fantasy and has invested roughly $15 million... Read more

Update: Documents for the case have appeared online, revealing that, among other things, Take-Two is demanding a copy of the Duke Nukem Forever source code.

Original: Take-Two Interactive, publisher of Duke Nukem Forever, has filed suit against the remains of Apogee Ltd./3D Realms for failing to deliver the long-awaited title.

Take-Two claims that an agreement to finish the shooter was breached when 3D Realms shut down development last week. At the time of the studio's closing, Duke Nukem Forever had been in development for over 12 years.

"Apogee continually delayed the completion date for the Duke Nukem Forever," says Take-Two in the complaint, according to Bloomberg. "Apogee repeatedly assured Take-Two and the video-gaming community that it was diligently working toward competing development of the PC Version of the Duke Nukem Forever."

Take-Two paid $12 million to former DNF publisher Infogrames for the exclusive publishing rights to the game in 2000. According to the publisher, a second unspecified agreement was struck between Take-Two and 3D Realms in 2007.

Following the closure last week, Take-Two spokesman Alan Lewis confirmed that the publisher was not providing 3D Realms with "ongoing funds... Read more

Ultima creator Richard Garriott is suing former employer NCSoft for around $27 million, alleging he lost stock options when the Tabula Rasa publisher mischaracterised the circumstances of his depature, GamePolitics reports.

"I am leaving NCsoft to pursue [other] interests" wrote Garriot in an open letter when he left in November 2008, making his depature appear voluntary when this was not the case.

While in quarantine following his voyage into space, Garriott was informed by telephone that his employment was terminated despite his protestations, the suit alleges.

Had Garriot's employment been terminated, his stock options would have lasted until 2011. Instead, presented as voluntary, Garriott's options expired after 90 days and he sold into "one of the worst equity markets in modern history", losing "tens of millions".

Garriott seeks to recover damages, interest and legal fees for his claims of breach of contract, fraud, and/or negligent misrepresentation--totalling around $27 million.

Half-Life 2 developer Valve today filed suit against Activision, owner of former HL2 publisher Sierra, over a 2002 lawsuit regarding cyber-cafe licensing.

Valve originally won its dispute with Sierra, and was awarded $2,391,932 in its favor. However, Activision paid Valve only $1,967,796 last week, claiming that the missing $424k had already been doled out over the years, as pointed out by GamePolitics.

Not all that happy with Activision's appraisal of the situation, Valve sued the publisher this Tuesday. As promised, Activision is now threatening to countersue.

And in the span of time that it took you to read this, Activision Blizzard probably earned another $400,000. This one is about principle.

Developer TimeGate today confirmed with Shacknews that it has settled the lawsuit against Paramount Digital Entertainment and Paramount Pictures over "Section 8."

Filed in early April, the lawsuit saw TimeGate allege that Paramount infringed on its "Section 8" trademark with an "interactive web series," announced just days after Paramount cancelled a meeting to see TimeGate's unrelated Section 8 video game.

The suit was dismissed without prejudice--meaning that TimeGate retains the option to re-file at a later date--after Paramount agreed to not use the "Section 8" moniker for its web series. It's the second such lawsuit and victory for TimeGate. Last year, TimeGate took ABC to court over the network's plans to make a sci-fi show titled "Section 8."

Under development since 2005, TimeGate's "intense sci-fi first-person shooter" Section 8 is currently slated to drop on PC and "next-gen console platforms" in late 2009.

While the L.A. Superior Court refused to grant "any restraining order" against Activision last week, that apparently changed today, as Genius Products and Numark today announced that they now have a temporary restraining order against Activision.

Publisher Genius Products and hardware maker Numark allege that Activision tried to sabotage the development of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ by buying its developer, 7 Studios, to benefit Activision's upcoming DJ Hero. Activision claims that it bought 7 Studios to "bolster its development capabilities" and did not interfere with Scratch.

The announcement specifies that Activision and 7 Studios must turn over "all source code related to Scratch"--including the code for 7 Studios' "pre-existing" development tools--by the end of today due to a ruling from last week, and also sees Genius and Numark reiterate their strongly worded accusations.

Scratch DJ Game LLC, a joint venture between Genius Products, LLC ("Genius") and Numark Industries LLC ("Numark"), announced... Read more

Activision has denied Genius Products and Numark's recent allegations that it bought 7 Studios, which is developing Scratch: The Ultimate DJ for Genius Products, in order to sabotage Scratch and benefit the upcoming Activision-developed DJ Hero.

According to Activision, the allegations are "nothing more than an attempt by Genius to place blame for the game's delay" and an attempt to hide Genuis' financial situation. Activision says it simply bought 7 Studios to "bolster its development capabilities."

An L.A. Superior Court hearing found "no evidence of any wrongdoing by Activision," the company said. Activision further claims that it did not "interfere with or delay" Scratch, and actually helped the game by providing 7 Studios with "much needed financing."

The lawsuit will have no effect on DJ Hero, Activision stressed, with the company's complete response following below:

Activision Publishing strongly denies the allegations made by Genius Products and Numark Industries and believes that the claims are disingenuous and lack any merit. Yesterday, the L.A. Superior... Read more

The war over the lucrative music game genre escalated today, with the publisher of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ suing DJ Hero publisher Activision and Scratch developer 7 Studios over "intentional interference with contract, breach of contract, conversion and misappropriation of trade secrets."

Publisher Genius Products and peripheral manufacturer Numark Industries are claiming that Activision recently purchased Scratch: The Ultimate DJ developer 7 Studios in order to benefit its own upcoming DJ title, DJ Hero.

The suit alleges that Activision and 7 Studios "conspired to withhold the current version of Scratch in an effort to delay the development and release of Scratch and to gain access to proprietary technology."

Scratch explains its version of events in a release:

Prior to undertaking these wrongful actions, Activision approached Genius with an offer to acquire Scratch. The offer was rejected. It is alleged that Activision then commenced the... Read more

The United States District Court has dismissed a lawsuit against Nintendo, in which Fenner Investments claimed that the Wii and GameCube maker infringed on one of its patents through the use of controller ports in those consoles.

The judge for the case said that a jury trial was not necessary. The suit, filed in 2007, also named Xbox manufacturer Microsoft and PlayStation maker Sony. However, Fenner later dropped its charges against Sony.

"We are very pleased with the court's decision," said Nintendo of America general counsel VP Rick Flamm. "Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others."

A summary of Fenner's patent follows below:

The joystick port interface includes an integrated circuit receiving an analog joystick position measurement signal and outputting a digital... Read more

Computer hardware maker Intel has filed a lawsuit against graphics technology manufacturer Nvidia, claiming that Nvidia does not have the license to produce chipsets that are compatible with Intel processors packing integrated memory controllers.

The lawsuit stems from a 2004 license agreement between the two companies. Nvidia believes the agreement allows it to produce nForce motherboards that support the latest Intel hardware, such as Nehalem processors. Intel, quite obviously, disagrees.

"At the heart of this issue is that the CPU has run its course and the soul of the PC is shifting quickly to the GPU," stated Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang. "This is clearly an attempt to stifle innovation to protect a decaying CPU business... Read more

Activision Blizzard has reportedly threatened to sue Electronic Arts for publishing Double Fine's upcoming action-adventure game Brutal Legend (PS3, 360), claims Variety.

Though Electronic Arts claimed to pick up the publishing rights for Brutal Legend back in December, Variety's sources indicate that Activision Blizzard views the agreement as invalid due to a belief that it was still engaged in negotiations regarding the game.

Brutal Legend was originally set to be published by Vivendi, which merged with Activision to form Activision Blizzard last year. Following the merger, Activision said that the new company would not publish Brutal Legend and several other games, including 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, Ghostbusters, and The Chronicles of Riddick.

Variety speculates that Activision is seeking a cash payment for the publishing rights, especially as the company has said it has no interest in publishing the game.

As for Electronic Arts, a company representative expressed doubt that Activision would actually sue, explaining that it would "be like a husband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy."

The National Football League Players Association has been ordered to pay retired NFL players $28.1 million following a legal dispute over royalties, including unpaid licensing profits from Electronic Arts' Madden series.

A San Francisco federal court passed a $7.1 million judgment in favor of the players last November. This new lawsuit, filed on behalf of 2,062 former NFL players, adds $21 million in damages to the total sum, according to Bloomberg.

The retired players were used in Madden recreations of classic NFL teams. The NFLPA argued that the retired players were not covered under its exclusive licensing deal with Electronic Arts.

Self-described pioneer in "3D virtual communities and rich immersive environments" Worlds has sued MMO publisher and developer NCsoft for infringing on a Worlds-held patent titled "System and Method for Enabling Users to Interact in a Virtual Space."

The lawsuit claims that by developing and selling massively multiplayer online games--including City of Heroes, Dungeon Runners, Tablua Rasa, Lineage, Lineage II, and Guild Wars--NCsoft "directly and/or contributorily infringed" on Worlds' patent.

Filed in 2000 and granted in 2007, the broadly-worded patent "provides a highly scalable architecture for a three-dimensional graphical, multi-user, interactive virtual world system" that uses a "central server" to compute the positional data that allows avatars to interact with each other as well as the environment.

Curiously, one of the titles listed in the lawsuit--Lineage--was initially released in 1998, almost two years before Worlds filed for the patent that the game supposedly violates.

Furthermore, the patent could be theoretically applied to just about any online game ever, prompting speculation that NCsoft is only the first up against the wall. Blizzard is a likely target, given the success and 11.5 million subscribers of World of Warcraft.

A specific sum was not named in the suit, which was obtained and distributed by Virtual Worlds News. Instead, Worlds is simply demanding that its patent be found "valid and enforceable" so that it can get a "permanent injunction" against NCsoft and receive unspecified compensation for the damages it has suffered.

The January 2007 fire that caused "substantial" damage to the home of Kentucky resident French Harmon was sparked by a faulty Nintendo DS power adapter, alleges a lawsuit filed by Harmon's insurance company Liberty Mutual.

"The fire was caused by the [Nintendo DS and its AC adapter]," reads the court filing, which was acquired by GamePolitics. "Due to defects existing within the Product which caused a risk of overheating and fire, the Product was recalled by Nintendo."

The lawsuit charges Nintendo with breach of express and implied warranties, strict products liability, and negligence, stating that the fire and "resulting damages...were directly and proximately caused by the negligence, carelessness and/or negligent acts...of defendant Nintendo...in the design, manufacture, sale...of its Nintendo DS."

Overall, Liberty Mutual is seeking a payout of at least $236,304--a rough approximation of the sum it gave Harmon after the fire--along with reimbursement for legal fees.

Nintendo and Nyko today settled one of the many prending lawsuits pertaining to Wii controllers. The lawsuit, filed by Nintendo back in June, accused Nyko of violating trademarks and patents through its Wii Kama Wireless Nunchuks.

The settlement will allow Nyko and its retail partners to sell a redesigned Wii Kama Wireless Nunchuk. Specific terms of the agreement were not provided. Thus far, Nintendo has only officially released a wired version of the Wii Nunchuk add-on.

Left, Nyko's Kama Nunchuk. Right, Nintendo's Official Nunchuk

"We are pleased to have resolved this dispute," said Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime. "The Nunchuk and Wii brands are familiar to consumers worldwide, and Nintendo is dedicated to vigorous defense of those brands."