When Band Hero got SUED by the band No Doubt

In 2009, Activision released Band Hero, a spin-off of its Guitar Hero series that let players perform along to popular songs using digital versions of real musicians. One of the bands featured in the game was No Doubt, and Activision had actually signed an agreement with the band allowing it to use their names and likenesses in the game. The problem was that Activision gave players far more freedom with those likenesses than No Doubt had agreed to. Players could unlock individual members of the band and make their avatars perform more than 60 songs that No Doubt had never agreed to license. No Doubt sued Activision, arguing that this went beyond the limited license they had given the company. Their agreement allowed Activision to use their likenesses in Band Hero, but also gave the band approval rights over how those likenesses were used. No Doubt claimed that allowing their virtual versions to perform other artists' songs, including songs that were completely out of character for the band, violated that agreement and their right to control the commercial use of their identities. Activision tried to fight the lawsuit by arguing that Band Hero was a creative work protected by the First Amendment. But in 20 11, the California Court of Appeal rejected that argument at this stage of the case. The court found that the digital versions of No Doubt's members were essentially literal recreations of the real musicians, rather than sufficiently transformed fictional characters. It also rejected Activision's argument that No Doubt had to prove the game was explicitly misleading in order to pursue its unfair competition claim. The lower court's decision was therefore affirmed, allowing No Doubt's claims to proceed. The case proceeded after the 20 11 appeal, and the dispute was eventually resolved outside of a final trial judgment. Even so, Activision had lost an important legal battle over its use of the band's likenesses, establishing that it couldn't simply rely on the game's creative nature to ignore the limits of its agreement with No Doubt. #gaming #lawsuit #bandhero