You guys remember a while back when Activision sued The Ant Commandoes for creating those unlicensed guitars for Activision’s Guitar Hero series? It looks like Activision is lacing up its litigation boots for round two. Only, this time, it has decided to add John Tam, Corey Fong and Jamie Yang (all former employees of Red Octane) as well as Red Octane’s PR firm to the docket of defendants. Why, you may ask, is Activision suing people who all contributed to their wealth?
Of course, the answer has to do with copyright infringment. In yet another case of copyrights leading to wacky courtroom hijinks, Activision is basically alleging that the former Red Octane employees left RO and took a ton of their insider info with them, only to team up with The Ant Commandoes to create another, similar rhythm game. Of course, if it turns out that that is the case, Activision could metaphorically sue the pants off of them (see, they would still probably get to keep their pants …), but this kind of issue is rather difficult to prove up until such a game is released. Since Activision is filing before their former compadres had actually done anything with their alleged, illicit knowledge, it makes Activision’s case that much more difficult to prove.
We’ll keep you updated on whether the boys pants remain touched or untouched as the case continues.
