I'm sorry, but this is nothing new. Did they take a look at Guitar Hero III wish slash playing fucking panic at the disco or something?

Agreed. Anyone who allowed their or someone else's likeness to be used in this game expecting anything other than what happened did not do their research and deserve what they got. Which is PAID.
Fuck them.

I call marketing stunt. This way at least somebody is talking about Band Hero and No Doubt.

Also I can't wait for people to complain about themselves in Lego Rock Band.

@covah
Silly child. Panic! wasn't in Guitar Hero III.

I agree people should have some measure over their likenesses but when you willing sign off without reading the fine print...whatcha gonna do?

The response they got from Acti is bullshit though. Oh well.

Look at it like this Gwen: They made Hollaback Girl listenable in DJ Hero...5 times over in fact.

I'm pretty sure No Doubt signed a contract. If they didn't read the fine print on it then that's their fault.

Artists do maintain rights over their likeness in promoting others work. Given the way that Activision setup gameplay in the Metallica and Aerosmith games where your own characters appeared when not playing featured artist songs, this is just slimy to misrepresent themselves in such a manner.

Sue em and shut down the mediocrity!

If you sign on to something, then maybe you should know what you're getting into first. Some people are so retarded that it hurts. Didn't they learn anything from the whole Kurt Cobain thing?

They could put me in a game getting raped by barnyard animals, just gimme da CASH

I'm behind them on this. They need to stop pulling this shit. Allowing people to play as artists is all GH has right now. It's gimmicky garbage. I don't blame people for not liking it.

Does ANYONE not know how the Guitar Hero/Rock Band formula works anymore?

Who the hell would pay an artist to be in the game so they can only play their own song?

@Xhumation:
"I'm pretty sure No Doubt signed a contract. If they didn't read the fine print on it then that's their fault."

@Xzyliac
"I agree people should have some measure over their likenesses but when you willing sign off without reading the fine print...whatcha gonna do? "

Really?

Are you guys honestly so naive as to believe that there isn't an army of lawyers on both sides analyzing the "fine print" of any contracts related to marketing and intellectual properties?

The problem seems that what may be written in the "fine print" - and what the developers actually did might be two different things. That's why there is a lawsuit.

From the original article:
"In a suit filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court, the band alleges that Santa Monica-based Activision, the maker of the game, has far exceeded the contractually approved use of likenesses, or avatars, of band members Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont and Adrian Young."

and, "No Doubt’s contract with Activision allowed the company to use the band’s music and likenesses in no more than three of the band’s own songs, the suit states."

Whoever wins, we lose. Seriously, does anyone care anymore? And for that matter, is anyone going to actually buy this game?

@BattyAdroit
Lawyers, even armies of them, screw up all the time. Especially in contracts.

Regardless of what No Doubt claims who's to say they didn't just screw up? The contract also could've had convoluted wording thus giving Acti the upper hand.

I'm just saying musicians aren't very good at knowing what they're signing off in contracts. I don't know why but they just aren't.

@Xzyliac
I know, I was just giving an example

What is this bullshit with these retard musicians not wanting their likenesses to play other types of music? Do they think that they're too good to play certain types of music.

I swear, everytime I hear about any musician saying or doing anything outside of their music career, I get the impression that they're a total fucking moron.

@Xzyliac: "Regardless of what No Doubt claims who's to say they didn't just screw up?"

Because, that's ridiculous and overly simplified thinking. We're talking about oodles of cash here involving lawyers, intellectual property licenses, contract writers, developers, etc - not people who wear paper hats at their jobs.

It doesn't matter if the musicians aren't personally very good at interpreting legalese; they pay lawyers pretty well to represent their interests.

It sounds like there's a legitimate disagreement here over the terms of the usage of the music and the likenesses. Just because we don't fancy No Doubt's music doesn't mean they don't have a legitimate complaint.

But I've always want to see videos of No Doubt performing Gwar!

@BattyAdroit
Err...I like No Doubt. Like a lot.

Anyways again musicians sign shit and regret it all the fucking time. Seriously ALL THE TIME. Why? I dunno! Seriously I wish I had better reasoning and could give you a nice long and thought out rebuttal but all I'm saying is more often than not the artist is at fault here.

If Acti is at fault they'll get what's coming to them. But I'm not buying No Doubt's (or their representation) story here.

Oodles of cash doesn't buy intelligence.

I really hope they sue Activision for it. And win. I hate the idea of Band Hero.

I can't wait for Qui-Gon Jinn to sue LucasArts over being able to slay Rebel Alliance soldiers in The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition.

@Xzyliac
"Anyways again musicians sign shit and regret it all the fucking time. Seriously ALL THE TIME. Why? I dunno! Seriously I wish I had better reasoning and could give you a nice long and thought out rebuttal but all I'm saying is more often than not the artist is at fault here. "

What on earth can you possibly be basing this on? Also, assuming this were somehow magically true, does this automatically make this lawsuit less legitimate?

I can see it now:

The Judge: "Well, since all of these other musicians aren't very good at reading contracts and often have 'buyer's remorse' about what they've signed, we're just going to have to assume that No Doubt is automatically at fault here. The Court going to be forced to throw out yet another trivial lawsuit, regardless of the arguments!"

"...Furthermore, tt doesn't matter that they've been a high-profile band for over two decades or that they have been dealing with licensing issues for longer than most of the readership of Destructoid has been alive, they're not cool and smart like Activision (who are publishing Modern Warfare 2!!!) and therefore, we have no doubt that they're completely incapable of protecting their image, music or personal interests. So, NEXT CASE!!"

Maybe oodles of cash won't always buy you intelligence, but I do know that it can buy you people who don't overly-simplify complex issues! ;)

@BattyAdroit
Didn't I just say if Acti fucked them over the court would see it NB's way? I'm not over simplifying anything. I'm saying this is the same old song and dance we've seen over and over and almost every time the courts have seen it Acti's way so I don't see any reason for this to be any different other than Acti said "Fuck you" when they asked them to lock their characters to their songs.

They tried it with Hendrix, they tried with Cash, and as we all know they tried it with Cobain (although I don't think that's been settled). It always ends the same.

Would it completely blow your mind if Activision used evil complicated wording and NB signed off on it and after the Nirvana erupted NB went back to Acti and asked for them to lock their avatars and they said no?

They're worried about their image, that's fair. But who in the hell is going to try and trash an artists reputation based on something in a video game?

Yeah, No Doubt sucks and Gwen Stefani is a lizard whore from Mars, because they're all in Band Hero. There, I said it.

SOMEONE isn't fully reading the contract...I'll let you all figure out who.

the owners of Jimmy Hendrix's estate and Tool had no problems in world tour...why all of a sudden are there problems in 5 and band hero?

not like i care...I hate No Doubt

@Laurence Silva
Since I'm already being way too talkative I'll keep talking.

A)Tool wasn't in GH. Just their songs and some stupid shit venue.
B) Someone did have a problem with Hendrix. I don't believe it was their estate exactly but some individual who had their hand in the license. Anyway the lawsuit died farely quickly and quietly as they all have except for Courtney Love because she has a fat mouth and everyone pays attention to her for whatever reason and now this one because Courtney Love brought this to people's attention.

So either things are getting really shady or this is just news fodder. Both are likely. However again this isn't THAT new. It's just previous attempts died quickly so I'm assuming Acti payed them off real nicely real quickly right up until Courtney Love came along and probably didn't take the bait OR Acti has evil wording.

Either way I'm saying what they did is right entirely. Just, well, legally it may have been.

*I'm not saying

If No Doubt had any doubts, they shouldve just said "no" to using their likeness on avatars.

Geez, grow up already.

@Niero

Holy. Shit. I can't wait until they take Britney Spears without permit.

@Xzyliac

I never said Tool the BAND was in the game, their venue was in it and anytime you play even one of their songs it can ONLY be in their venue. even if you made a quickplay list Tool songs can only be in the Tool venue.

either way it's just attention grabbing at this point. *shrugs*

I think Activision screwed up here and are going to have to settle.

Also, @Prof. Pew
When Qui-Gon signed his contract he didn't foresee Lucas' ability to rape and misuse characters.

I want Gwen Stefani to be a playable character in Tony Hawk Ride so I can willingly crash and injure her

Oh, for the love of bad singing, this is silly.

Did any of these musicians (I use that term lightly in No Doubt's case) actually read the contracts? They sure didn't seem to mind signing away for money and publicity. Now play dumb and say Activision took advantage, but really they didn't take advantage if it's in the contract because it's your responsibility to read a contract before signing it (tht's why they exist), and score even more publicity and possible even more money while making teenyboppers think you have so much integrity.

I was fully behind the Kurt Cobain thing. That really did feel like the raping of a dead man when you think how he was and to see his digital self singing, well, No Doubt songs.
If he had come back from the dead, that right there would have made him eat another shotgun shell all over again.
But No Doubt? They're as inconsequential a pop band as there is. People like them and Blink 182, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using in different songs. They were borderline cartoon characters to begin with.

And now they might get to look like they're singing well written songs.

I think I'll ask her about this during thanksgiving, or would that be a faux pas to discuss one's business during the holidays?

I hope Activision gets it in the butt. S'all I'm saying.

If No Doubt was worried about their image, they never should have release Hella Good. Amirite?
Also, B-A-N-A-N-A-S. WHERE IS THE SHAME!?

I hate activision so much! there greety pigs,hope no doubt wins and hits activision for alot of money.

no doubt should be happy that people want to use their likenesses for anything

No Doubt lost all their integrity (what little they had) as a band when Gwen decided that she was a wannabe Madonna/Brittney Spears and started her own line of clothing. They sold out years ago, and now they're trying to get some semblance of credibility back.

Screw 'em.

Reading this makes me want to create Gwen Stefani in WWE 2010 just for shits and giggles. And then have her hit by a car (in the game, of course).