Guitar Hero lawsuit all over again

With the announcement of Guitar Hero (Wii, X360) for Wii the other day, one may simply posit that everything is doing quite well for the title. But sadly, that is not the case. If anything, things are getting ugly because of the dispute between its publisher and several developer. Again.

Here’s the thing and we will try to make it simple for you: The Ant Commandos is a company that makes unlicensed guitar controllers for the said rhythm game. Activision doesn’t like this and that is why it filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles last month. The lawsuit was also filed against three Guitar Hero developers as well as against PR firm Reverb Communications.

Why did Activision include the other ones? Let’s talk about the PR firm first. Well, the action was prompted because of an earlier press release from Reverb Communications. Reverb mentioned that it is now providing services for Ant Commandos, and the Reverb’s VP of Business Development just joined the Ant Commandos’ board of directors.

Likewise, the three developers, namely Executive Producer John Tam, Brand Manager Corey Fong, and Hardware Group member Jamie Yang came up with a new company in conjunction with The Ant Commandos. In case you want to know, the new company is referred to as both Lodestone Entertainment and Hourglass Interactive. Activision wasn’t pleased.

The lawsuit is over such matters as copyright infringement, trademark infringement, misappropriating trade secrets and confidential information, breach of contract, and interference with contractual relations.

As of now, the District Court of L.A. slapped a temporary restraining order against the developers that will prevent them from working further on Guitar Hero.

With the announcement of Guitar Hero (Wii, X360) for Wii the other day, one may simply posit that everything is doing quite well for the title. But sadly, that is not the case. If anything, things are getting ugly because of the dispute between its publisher and several developer. Again.

Here’s the thing and we will try to make it simple for you: The Ant Commandos is a company that makes unlicensed guitar controllers for the said rhythm game. Activision doesn’t like this and that is why it filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles last month. The lawsuit was also filed against three Guitar Hero developers as well as against PR firm Reverb Communications.

Why did Activision include the other ones? Let’s talk about the PR firm first. Well, the action was prompted because of an earlier press release from Reverb Communications. Reverb mentioned that it is now providing services for Ant Commandos, and the Reverb’s VP of Business Development just joined the Ant Commandos’ board of directors.

Likewise, the three developers, namely Executive Producer John Tam, Brand Manager Corey Fong, and Hardware Group member Jamie Yang came up with a new company in conjunction with The Ant Commandos. In case you want to know, the new company is referred to as both Lodestone Entertainment and Hourglass Interactive. Activision wasn’t pleased.

The lawsuit is over such matters as copyright infringement, trademark infringement, misappropriating trade secrets and confidential information, breach of contract, and interference with contractual relations.

As of now, the District Court of L.A. slapped a temporary restraining order against the developers that will prevent them from working further on Guitar Hero.