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 Federal Trade Commission today announced the latest revisions to its "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising," revealing that "bloggers" and other "word-of-mouth" endorsers must now disclose "connections that consumers would not expect," such as free product or cash in exchange for review.

The announcement did not provide a specific definition of "blogger," leaving it unclear what effect this will have in the arena of video game reviews, news, and professional blogging in general--a field where free review copies and paid trips are commonplace. It was likewise unspecified how writers are to properly disclose "material connections."

However, it was noted that these guidelines do not apply towards "traditional media"--described as "a newspaper, magazine, or television or radio station with independent editorial responsibility"--as the Federal Trade Commission believes the issue lies primarily with "consumer-generated" content and personal postings.

"The post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement," declared the FTC. "And a paid endorsement - like any other advertisement - is deceptive if it makes false or misleading... Read more

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide today whether to hear arguments on a California law that would bar minors from buying violent video games, according to CNBC.

The bill, initially introduced by California assemblyman Leland Yee, was signed into law in 2005 by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) quickly sued the state, and a district judge blocked the law on the grounds of First Amendment protection.

A federal judge ruled that the law was unconstitutional in August of 2007. The state of California appealed the decision, leading to another rejection in February of this year by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Now the Supreme Court could choose to make a final ruling.

Proponents of the law argue a link between violent games and real-world violence. However, in his 2007 ruling, District Judge Ronald Whyte stated... Read more

Fallout 3 developer and Fallout property owner Bethesda has filed a lawsuit against former owner Interplay to clarify that Interplay no longer holds any rights to the franchise.

Bethesda, which purchased the post-apocalyptic property from Interplay for $5.75 million, says Interplay never sought the necessary approval to re-release the original Fallout games at retail or via digital distribution, and no longer holds the Fallout MMO license.

Bethesda further claims that Interplay's unapproved re-releases of Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel though the "Fallout Trilogy," "Fallout Collection" and "Saga Fallout" bundles are "confusingly similar to Fallout 3... Read more

Musician Courtney Love has launched a strongly worded and rather vulgar campaign against the use of her deceased husband's likeness in Guitar Hero 5, claiming that she is "going to sue the shit out of [Activision]" over Kurt Cobain's in-game appearance.

A digital rendition of the Nirvana frontman performs "Smells Like Teen Spirit" during the game's career mode, after which players can use his likeness to perform any in-game song (such as "Play That Funky Music") in any capacity (drums, guitar, vocals).

Love says she "never signed [off] on the avatar" and adds "I think Kurt would despise this game alone let alone this avatar." Activision previously told Rolling Stone that it had gotten approval from Love, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl and Primary Wave Publishing to use two Nirvana tunes and Cobain's likeness in the game.

"Courtney supplied us with photos and videos and knew exactly... Read more

In what is bound to be an ongoing case of "he said-she said," publisher Atari has fired back against the $30 million lawsuit from Dungeons & Dragons Online maker Turbine.

Atari labeled the lawsuit, in which Turbine accuses Atari of fraud and extortion, as "frivolous" and filed a motion to dismiss the suit, along with another complaint to "recover monies owed to Atari resulting from an independent third party audit of Turbine."

In last week's suit, Turbine said Atari's claim of being owed more money was "unfounded." The entire affair centers around the Dungeons & Dragons license, which Turbine sublicensed from Atari so that it could create D&D Online... Read more

Dungeons & Dragons Online developer Turbine is pursuing legal action against Atari, alleging the publisher of fraud, unjust enrichment, and breach of contract.

The bulk of Turbine's suit seems to revolve around the new D&D: Neverwinter Nights MMO Atari is said to be prepping in conjunction with Champions Online developer Cryptic. Turbine initially licensed the D&D MMO rights from Atari back in 2003.

In short, Turbine says that Atari lied about its "enthusiastic support" for the upcoming free-to-play relaunch of DDO, and then "trumped up" false charges against Turbine "in an effort to extort more money from Turbine, or, alternately, to free itself from its obligations under the contracts in order to clear the way for the launch of its own competing MMO service based on the D&D and Advanced D&D intellectual properties... Read more

With publisher Activision suing Double Fine to block the release of Brutal Legend, the developer has now filed its own countersuit, claiming that Activision is unfairly attempting to avoid competing with the title.

Activision, Double Fine's countersuit claims, aims to "not only to cancel 'Brutal Legend,' but to kill it completely so that 'Guitar Hero' would not have to face the competition."

The whole mess began when Activision apparently passed on Brutal Legend, leading Double Fine to sign with publisher Electronic Arts. Activision now claims it never relinquished its rights to the game, and says it would be "seriously harmed" by its release.

Double Fine filed its countersuit last week. A hearing on the matter is schedule to take place on July 30, roughly two and a half months prior to Brutal Legend's release date of October 13.

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

The mysterious "well-known videogame developer" behind new Duke Nukem series entry "Duke Begins" is Gearbox Software (Brothers in Arms, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Borderlands), Take-Two has revealed in court filings uncovered by Shacknews. Gearbox was named within Take-Two's answer to a counterclaim filed by series creator 3D Realms/Apogee Software Ltd. The increasingly complicated lawsuit sees publisher Take-Two going after 3D Realms for the incomplete state of the long-in-development shooter Duke Nukem Forever, with 3D Realms labeling the lawsuit as a "bully tactic."

Duke Begins emerged from a 2007 Agreement between 3D Realms and Take-Two, with development taking place at an external third party studio now known to be Gearbox. As part of the deal, 3D Realms received a $2.5 million advance to help fund... 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: 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