Rockstar hurdles another legal obstacle
Like what our Gramps used to say, “When you’re way up, there’s nowhere to go but down; and those below have a knack for aiming at those who are on top.” Such is the case with Rockstar. After achieving unprecedented success with its Grand Theft Auto franchise, it has been receiving blows from all directions in the form of lawsuits. It’s sometimes hard to imagine how they still find time to develop games with all these distractions.
Well, Rockstar may have just gotten a huge break as a US district judge ruled on their favor regarding the complaint filed by a Los Angeles strip club. The complaint says that Rockstar Games breached copyright by designing a similar-looking virtual strip club for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
April of last year, The Play Pen club owner E.S.S. Entertainment filed a lawsuit against GTA creator Rockstar. The suit accused the said game developers of trademark infringement; a strip club in the game carried the name The Pig Pen and allegedly has a similar logo, awning, and ‘Totally nude’ advertising slogan.
While Rockstar admitted that their artist produced most of the game scenes inspired with photographs of actual spots on Los Angeles, including the Play Pen, they 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.” To further cement their defense, Rockstar likened their situation with that of MCA Records who also got the “not guilty” verdict after being accused of the same violation with the song Barbie Girl. They got cleared with the judge saying trademark rights “do not entitle the owner to quash an unauthorised use of the mark by another who is communicating ideas or expressing points of view.“
After reviewing all the evidences, Judge Margaret Morrow sided with Rockstar ruling that their “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.“
That could finally settle the issues surrounding GTA: San Andreas, especially that it came after the ruling by FTC over the Hot Coffee scandal. Well Rockstar may have just weathered a storm but things aren’t likely to stay this good for long with the controversy magnet company set to release another game – the alleged violent, school-based Bully, before the end of the year. Let the stone hurling begin.
Via Game Industry
Like what our Gramps used to say, “When you’re way up, there’s nowhere to go but down; and those below have a knack for aiming at those who are on top.” Such is the case with Rockstar. After achieving unprecedented success with its Grand Theft Auto franchise, it has been receiving blows from all directions in the form of lawsuits. It’s sometimes hard to imagine how they still find time to develop games with all these distractions.
Well, Rockstar may have just gotten a huge break as a US district judge ruled on their favor regarding the complaint filed by a Los Angeles strip club. The complaint says that Rockstar Games breached copyright by designing a similar-looking virtual strip club for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
April of last year, The Play Pen club owner E.S.S. Entertainment filed a lawsuit against GTA creator Rockstar. The suit accused the said game developers of trademark infringement; a strip club in the game carried the name The Pig Pen and allegedly has a similar logo, awning, and ‘Totally nude’ advertising slogan.
While Rockstar admitted that their artist produced most of the game scenes inspired with photographs of actual spots on Los Angeles, including the Play Pen, they 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.” To further cement their defense, Rockstar likened their situation with that of MCA Records who also got the “not guilty” verdict after being accused of the same violation with the song Barbie Girl. They got cleared with the judge saying trademark rights “do not entitle the owner to quash an unauthorised use of the mark by another who is communicating ideas or expressing points of view.“
After reviewing all the evidences, Judge Margaret Morrow sided with Rockstar ruling that their “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.“
That could finally settle the issues surrounding GTA: San Andreas, especially that it came after the ruling by FTC over the Hot Coffee scandal. Well Rockstar may have just weathered a storm but things aren’t likely to stay this good for long with the controversy magnet company set to release another game – the alleged violent, school-based Bully, before the end of the year. Let the stone hurling begin.
Via Game Industry