August 12, 2006
Games:
We re all aware of the difficulties that Rock Star and Take Two have experienced in relation to GTA: San Andreas, but this one takes the cake: Rock Star was sued by an LA strip club for trade-mark infringement. The real-life PlayPen Gentlemen's Club claimed that by including a virtual strip club called the Pig Pen in GTA: SA, Rock Star had harmed PlayPen s reputation and infringed its trade-mark. The judge, however, found that there was no infringement the virtual strip club in the game was artistically relevant and not "explicitly misleading . The PlayPen club apparently intends to appeal. We discussed issues relating to the use of real-life settings in games back in July (see here). This case deals with the same point by including real-life settings or locations (or ones that clearly are based on real-life locations), do game designers risk litigation like this? Does the increase in in-game advertising mean that game players are more likely to assume sponsorship or endorsement when they see real-life establishments featured in video games? These are all interesting questions. For now, the only conclusion we can draw is that Rock Star is probably relieved to have won a GTA battle. Coverage at: http://shorl.com/bokebafrifruki (Mercury News)
GAMESTOP SUED OVER TIME
Six managers have filed a class action suit for unpaid overtime, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). They seek to have managers denied overtime since 2003 because they were classified under the FLSA as executive, administrative, or professional capacity" to opt into the class action and obtain redress (including overtime, interest, damages and lawyers' fees). They claim to have been forced to work 50 to 60 hours a week without proper compensation. GameStop has asked that the lawsuit be dismissed because of a similar 2004 case pending against Electronics Boutique. coverage at: http://shorl.com/basahalesara
MS DEPLOYS COUNTER HACKING EFFORTS IN KOREA
Microsoft is confident that the DVD firmware hack will be countered by its Xbox Live updates. Sales of security upgraded consoles in Korea have increased over the past month after hackers tinkered with the embedded DVD software drive to allow copied CDs to run on the machine. Xbox is confident that the problem will be neutralized through software updates (detected and prompted for installation upon connecting to Xbox Live). Apparently more consumers are attempting to bypass Xbox s security in order to be able to use cheaper pirated software. The additional cost for a modified console is said to be approximately KRW 70,000 (60 Euro) and users are tempted by the saving of about KRW 25,000 (21 Euro) from the purchase of pirated software.coverage at: http://shorl.com/gybrestigribinu
JUDGE SAYS PRO PLAYER STATS CAN BE USED WITHOUT LICENCE
A US district court judge in St. Louis has ruled that fantasy baseball leagues can use player names and stats without permission from Major League Baseball because MLB doesn t own any intellectual property in the names or stats. The lawsuit was filed after MLB refused to grant CBC Distribution and Marketing Inc. a new licensing deal for the use of pro ball player stats. You can expect the MLB to appeal this one: pro licensing deals are worth millions. The ruling of course does not affect any personality rights that individual players may have, so sports games developers and publishers will still need licences from player associations to use player likenesses in games. They ll also need trade-mark and copyright licences to use team and league logos in games. Also, in some countries (such as Canada) privacy laws might prohibit gaming companies from using personal information about players in games without their consent. Coverage here: http://www.shorl.com/bulygynopriho (SI.com) A copy of the case is here: http://www.davis.ca/community/blogs/video_games/files/show_case_doc.pdf
But can the ESRB get past the big boss on Level 12? It had better, according to proposed law
The ESA, which established the ESRB, contends that a proposed bill - the "Truth in Video Game Rating Act" (HR 5912) - requiring the ESRB to play through every single video game it rates is not sensible. ESA president Doug Lowenstein responded to the proposed bill by defending the current ratings system and noting that games can take over 100 hours to complete and to do so would often require the skills of a professional gamer. Such gamers, he went on to say, are not likely to be representative of the mainstream American parent.Coverage at: http://shorl.com/duhahokepregro (GameDaily)
