No Doubt gets countersued by Activision

Last month, Californian rock outfit No Doubt announced they were suing game publisher Activision over their appearance in Band Hero. The band’s beef? That their virtual avatars could be used to perform any of the 60 songs that came with the game, 57 of which are not by the Gwen Stefani-led group.

Fast forward to this month, and the band is getting countersued by Activision, which is alleging a breach of contract and “unjust enrichment.” Apparently, the group only requested that their avatars be prevented from being used in songs by other bands until after the game wento to press:

“Activision admits that although it is possible to program a videogame whereby particular in-game characters can only be selected when certain songs are played, Plaintiff first requested this only after the “Band Hero” programming was finalized, had been submitted to all of the U.S. console manufacturers for approval and had been approved for manufacture by most console manufacturers”

Furthermore, Activision is after:

“… unspecified damages and interest, a return from No Doubt of all benefits and payments, an order for No Doubt to pay the full cost of this action and reasonable attorney fees, along with further awards and relief that the Court deems just and proper.”

I’m not sure who I want to lose this more: a diva band that has killed my ears with blandness for the last decade, or the inherently evil Activision.

[Hollywood Reporter, via GamePolitics]