MKR Group, the production company that owns the rights to the "Dawn of the Dead" films, is suing Capcom for copyright infringement. MKR Group alleges that "Dead Rising", a game that has you running around a giant mall hacking, slashing, and otherwise dispatching neverending hordes of the undead, is essentially a video game version of "Dawn of the Dead", which has a group of human survivors running around a giant mall while hacking, slashing and otherwise dispatching neverending hordes of the undead.
I don't see any similarity whatsoever.
MKR says it filed the complaint after talks with Capcom over the issue failed. Earlier this month, Capcom filed a case against the Dawn of the Dead producers in a California federal court, seeking an injunction to prevent MKR from suing Capcom for this very thing.
The complaint filed by MKR in a U.S. District Court claims that "both works are dark comedies" in which "absurdly groqesque 'kill scenes' provide unexpected comedic relief."
Um... duh? This really seems like an open and shut case that should go MKR Group's way. I'm not somebody who roots against the video game industry, but when you have to put a disclaimer on your jewel case that reminds consumers that your game is
NOT based on Dawn of the Dead, you have a problem.
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has anyone seen a zombie movie that DOESN'T have "absurdly groqesque 'kill scenes' provide unexpected comedic relief"
They better get going suing Dead Alive, Evil Dead, and every other B zombie movie out there for the same reason.
Like shawnKelfonne said, it's not like the story line or dialog is the same nor is the look of the characters (other then the zombies, because really..they are zombies)
But I think they missed their chance. Zombies in malls are like zombies in amusement parks. They gotta go somewhere!
That's the whole purpose of copyrights and IP protection. They are in place to protect people who come up with original ideas.
And, at electristan, you very well may need to pay the makers of SPR for your theoretical film, pending how much of that same essence is derived from the previous work. It's just the way it is nowadays. If you were to go out and make a movie or write a book about a female witch who goes to school and lives in the UK, although your work may be pretty different than Harry Potter, many people would be able to see that you pretty blatantly ripped off the essence of the story (which is funny, 'cause J.K. Rowling ripped it off of another writer from the early '80s but they settled out of court).
Intellectual Property rights are a tricky thing these days because of the vast influx of information being shared and content being created.
Personally, I think Capcom shot themselves in the foot on this one by even acknowledging the movie at all during the opening sequence of the game's boot-up. The fact they admitted there was enough of a connection as such people may see a passing resemblance or even mistake it for a DotD game is probably grounds enough for them to lose the suit. Had they not included that statement they could have easily feigned ignorance on the matter. As it stands, they sort of backhandedly admitted it's so similar to DotD it could be mistaken for it, which means they will more than likely lose.
That's just stupid. I mean, we all know movies rip off idea from each other all the time and no one gets mad. It's part of the business. Same thing with authors.
GrimGrimoire?
also, mr. hat.
Regardless, this is a pretty vague set of charges and it's hard to imagine victory for MKR in this suit.
I'm certain Necros did a blog on this a while back.
But this is the actual lawsuit happening now, Necros blogged on the impending suit before it actually came full circle.
So I'm not gonna bitch you out for being old. lol.