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Rockstar Finally Wins a Lawsuit
Posted by
Zonk
on Thu Aug 03, 2006 01:48 PM
from the about-time dept.
from the about-time dept.
Eurogamer is reporting that Rockstar Games has finally won a lawsuit. It's an important one too, involving a strip club's objection to its appearance (in satirized form) in the streets of San Andreas. From the article: "Rockstar conceded that its artists worked from photographs of real life LA locations - including the Play Pen - when designing the game, but argued that they 'changed the names, building designs and overall look and feel of the locations... To make them fit the virtual, cartoon-style world of San Andreas and the series' irreverent tone.' Rockstar also referred to the lawsuit MCA Records successfully defended over the song Barbie Girl, when the judge ruled that trademark rights 'do not entitle the owner to quash an unauthorized use of the mark by another who is communicating ideas or expressing points of view.'"
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If.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:If.... (Score:2, Funny)
2. remove all identifying and distinguishing characteristics
3. ???
4. profit!
Re:If.... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:If.... (Score:2)
Re:If.... (Score:1, Troll)
Imagine you spent all night writing an award winning speech on dumb things people do with computers. Then i take a picture of you with this speech in hand, change the orentation around a little and put it in a game i made with the intent of people shooting objects at it. Of course there would be little value to this picture ge
Re:If.... (Score:2)
Re:If.... (Score:2)
It is a matter of who is making what is a success. If your work makes my projecect apealing to other, you need that recognition.
A challenge (Score:1)
Re:A challenge (Score:1)
In this situation, including this was mearly adopting public information and using it as filler in the game instead of centering the game around it. If rockstar would have marketed it as Mygame-check out the strip club, they probably would have lost the suite seeing how they kept so many simularities.
If rockstar relased a game called "porn nights" were you play an old aged former on
Judge Morrow gets it (Score:5, Insightful)
"Defendants' use of the Play Pen trade dress and trademark bears some artistic relevance to the game, and does not explicitly mislead consumers as to the source or content of the game."
Very nice.
Re:Judge Morrow gets it (Score:1)
Re:Judge Morrow gets it (Score:3, Interesting)
"Rockstar, Judge Morrow said, was therefore entitled to claim a First Amendment defence."
Take that you wankers who claim that video games aren't expressions protected under the First Amendment.
Re:Judge Morrow gets it (Score:3, Funny)
Why does a strip club have a "trade dress"? You'd think that would be an oxymoron...
Yet another frivolous lawsuit. (Score:3, Insightful)
Then again, they had no chance of winning. They didn't have the "thinkofthechildren" edge that most successful lawsuits against videogames require in order to win.
Re:Yet another frivolous lawsuit. (Score:2)
Re:Yet another frivolous lawsuit. (Score:1)
"They didn't have the "thinkofthechildren" edge"
I can't blame the club for trying (Score:5, Funny)
Then the pizza isn't free... (Score:2)
Re:Then the pizza isn't free... (Score:1)
Rockastar! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Rockastar! (Score:2)
Re:Rockastar! (Score:1)
Re:Rockastar! (Score:1)
(groan)
Re:Rockastar! (Score:1)
I know the italian stereotypes, but I still don't get it.
Photos? (Score:2)