Gibson Sues Walmart

[Ralph E.]

As usual, this is probably all about greed.

I would suspect this is a powerplay to get more licensing fees from Activision for the use of the Gibson guitar in the game. I wouldn't be surprised if this is settled out of court and Activision gives in to alleviate what would become huge legal fees.

This whole thing is ridiculous, especially since they agreed to the use of their guitars in the game to begin with.

Gibson probably found out Fender's getting more than they are... :ROTF:

[MikeStrat]

A lot of great points on this topic. I made my statement about Gibson purely based on the fact that I can't stand when companies continue to allow their quality standards go down the toilet while at the same time raising prices through the roof.

I bought a Gibson a couple years ago because it was being discontinued. I'm not a huge Gibson fan but I thought maybe someday it might be worth a couple dollars more than I paid. The guitar (original run of the Explorer Pro) looks great from a distance. Up close, it's not so hot. The pickups are kind of muddy and so on.

If a company can't do what they're known for correctly, then maybe they have no business worrying about diversifying.

[Newc]

Do we?

Gibson is trying to lay claim to something in which they had ZERO involvement in its development.
The patent claims are weak at best. Similarity is not grounds for an infringement claim when it comes to patents. You have to prove that the source of the idea that the infringer used came from those patents.

That's not protecting ones property, that's a blatant attempt at stealing Activisions hard work.

Read the patent filing 5990405... NOT EVEN CLOSE.
It was a system designed to be used with a REAL guitar... think glorified video Karaoke machine. Hardly a "video game".

While Gibson's idea is actually a better one (you have to be able to play guitar rather than just hit buttons like you're playing Simon), they did nothing with it, and there's no law against someone making a similar product. If there were, there would only be one electric guitar brand. There would be no Dean, no Jackson, no ESP.

Gibson licensed their name and the likeness of their product to Activision fair and square. Gibson is entirely at fault. If they are upset about it or the deal was not approved by the proper channels within Gibson, then Gibson's responsibility is to first prove such a deal violates company policy, then fire the persons responsible for signing the deal in violation of said policy, and then to compensate Activision/Red Octane for their licensing fees, as well as the massively expensive recall of all currently-produced merchandise, AND provide fair compensation for those companies to pursue a license agreement with another guitar brand OR to offset the cost of hiring of a designer to draw up a totally unique controller design.

The bottom line is that Gibson is entirely at fault. Activision/Red Octane were under no obligation to get the ok from the CEO once the deal was inked. It is the CEO's obligation to monitor the deals made by its legal and licensing department, and to ensure said deals are properly reviewed before final approval.

Gibson licensed their trademarks - their body shapes and likenesses. They have no case.


FMIC should step in and pick up the Guitar Hero controller, though I'd hate to see a plastic Jackson with 5 buttons when Rock Band gets a Fender Strat with 22 buttons on the neck.

[Bengal65]

I think next they plan on going after Sunkist for using their trademark orange peel finish without paying royalties.

:ROTF: That's good one.

[shreddermon]

I completely agree with Kevin's viewpoint, however it doesn't really apply in this case.

+1. Sorry, Kev, I agree with your points about protecting your own work. But IMHO that's got nothing to do with the reality of Gibson's "case". Their argument is utterly baseless. Just like with the PRS suit.

Also, I love The Onion... :ROTF:

http://www.theonion.com/content/amvo/gibson_sues_over_guitar_hero

[jwoods986]

Gibson probably didn't think that the game would take off like it did so they let activision use their LP brand for a small fee when in fact they see a much larger dollar figure could have been made, so now they want a larger piece of the pie!

Exactly!

[goodwood]

Gibson can sue for anyone who is profiting from the copyright infringement. Wally World included.

[T@rgetDrone]

I don't claim to know all of the particulars involved. I'll wait to see what happens when they get in front of a judge if it makes it that far. If we have most of the info as presented and if it's accurate, my opinion is that Gibson can't win if they go to court. Still a chance for settlement no matter who is actually right.

I'm not going to pull a fanboy bj routine either just because I'm in the Fender/Jackson forum. I've seen very good and awful products from both, as well as other manufacturers. And that includes the lowest models all the way up to the custom shop. I buy what I like and can afford, period. This entire paragraph has nothing to do w/the thread subject. Neither does my next point. But it sure as hell helps me side with ANYONE who is willing to kick Wally World in the wallet.... ANYONE!

Park your eyes and ears on this completely unrelated Wal-Mart diddie.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8nu1tNrAe4&feature=related

[rjohnstone]

Gibson can sue for anyone who is profiting from the copyright infringement. Wally World included.

Who said anything about copyright infringement?
This is a bogus patent claim.
Get your facts straight about the case before commenting.

The slam against the retailers selling the game is bogus as well.
Gibson already has a license deal in place with Activision over the use of the Gibson name and the LP guitar.
There is no violation there. Gibson is going after the retailers because they know they do not have a valid claim against Activision.
They figure if they can intimidate the retailers into pulling the game, that Activision will some how agree to a settlement.
It's called corporate blackmail.

[T@rgetDrone]

It's called corporate blackmail.

I think they like to use a more fluffy term.... Leverage.