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Rockstar Finally Wins a Lawsuit 30

Posted by Zonk from the about-time dept.
Eurogamer is reporting that Rockstar Games has finally won a lawsuit. It's an important one too, involving a strip club's objection to its appearance (in satirized form) in the streets of San Andreas. From the article: "Rockstar conceded that its artists worked from photographs of real life LA locations - including the Play Pen - when designing the game, but argued that they 'changed the names, building designs and overall look and feel of the locations... To make them fit the virtual, cartoon-style world of San Andreas and the series' irreverent tone.' Rockstar also referred to the lawsuit MCA Records successfully defended over the song Barbie Girl, when the judge ruled that trademark rights 'do not entitle the owner to quash an unauthorized use of the mark by another who is communicating ideas or expressing points of view.'"
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Rockstar Finally Wins a Lawsuit More

Rockstar Finally Wins a Lawsuit

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  • If.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by krell ( 896769 ) on Thursday August 03, 2006 @01:54PM (#15841185) Journal
    If these business don't like photos taken of them from public streets, they should cover their storefronts with plain brown paper and remove all identifying and distinguishing characteristics.

    • Re:If.... (Score:2, Funny)

      by Tarmas ( 954439 )
      1. cover storefronts with plain brown paper
      2. remove all identifying and distinguishing characteristics
      3. ???
      4. profit!
    • .. and sell their products in nondescript brown paper bags? I think they've got that part under control.

    • Re:If.... (Score:1, Troll)

      by sumdumass ( 711423 )
      It isn't that they don't like the pictures to be taken. It is someone taking the picture of thier storfront and image that they worked hard to create and then trying to profit from it.

      Imagine you spent all night writing an award winning speech on dumb things people do with computers. Then i take a picture of you with this speech in hand, change the orentation around a little and put it in a game i made with the intent of people shooting objects at it. Of course there would be little value to this picture ge
      • Please give an easier to follow, less convoluted, counterexample than the one you provided. I find that when someone can only scrape together something like that they tend to not have a point; I'd love to be shown otherwise.
        • I'll do even better, i'll explain the point. You make something, spend time, effort, money, and your personal touch to make it a success. If because all that you did, it becomes valuable to me, i should have to compensate you if i decide to use it in a way to make me money. If there is no difference in what you did, then it is questable that i would need to compesate you.

          It is a matter of who is making what is a success. If your work makes my projecect apealing to other, you need that recognition.
          • I defy you to show that one cent of any money Rockstar ever made had to do with the rendition of the strip club. Should be easy right?
            • thats the entire point. The judge said that the strip club was incedental in rockstar's games. It was a reaction not an action.

              In this situation, including this was mearly adopting public information and using it as filler in the game instead of centering the game around it. If rockstar would have marketed it as Mygame-check out the strip club, they probably would have lost the suite seeing how they kept so many simularities.

              If rockstar relased a game called "porn nights" were you play an old aged former on

  • Judge Morrow gets it (Score:5, Insightful)

    by OECD ( 639690 ) on Thursday August 03, 2006 @01:57PM (#15841208) Journal

    "Defendants' use of the Play Pen trade dress and trademark bears some artistic relevance to the game, and does not explicitly mislead consumers as to the source or content of the game."

    Very nice.

  • Yet another frivolous lawsuit. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Chaffar ( 670874 ) on Thursday August 03, 2006 @02:25PM (#15841461)
    What's next ? The MLB suing Rockstar for giving baseball bats a bad name ?

    Then again, they had no chance of winning. They didn't have the "thinkofthechildren" edge that most successful lawsuits against videogames require in order to win.

  • I can't blame the club for trying (Score:5, Funny)

    by OakDragon ( 885217 ) on Thursday August 03, 2006 @02:27PM (#15841481) Journal
    Strip clubs have to look out for their reputations, and not be conflated with morally questionable products and/or activities.
  • Since they won the lawsuit, the pizza isn't free. That's a good thing though because I hear the pizza was really just an empty box.

  • Rockastar! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Rob T Firefly ( 844560 ) on Thursday August 03, 2006 @02:51PM (#15841694) Homepage Journal
    Eurogamer is reporting that Rockastar Games
    Rockastar is, of course, the Italian-based wing of Rockstar, headed by Senior Vice President Chico Marx. When approached for comment regarding the successful outcome to the lawsuit, Chico beamed and replied "Atsa good, boss!" before excusing himself to flirt with a passing blonde woman while playing an elaborate ragtime tune on a conveniently nearby piano.
  • Does anyone have any photos to compare side-by-side with a screenshot or two? I'd like to know how similar the game is to the club.

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