Konami sues over Rock Band

[sumzup]

Read.

We'd better hope they don't find out about FFR, otherwise this site is screwed. Unless they know about it and are ignoring it because they wouldn't be able to squeeze any money out of the site.

[Redorigami]

Originally Posted by Tasselfoot

We currently have a better relationship with Konami than you'd think. But I can't say more. And no, we currently have no rights to any of their music.

So I don't think we should worry.

[MrRubix]

IMO this is an example of the downside to patents stifling innovation. It's lame that Konami can pretty much attack any popular music simulation (as has happened before... poor ITG) just so that it can continue to release crappy rehashes of Supernova.

For the record, though, I don't expect Konami to really win that claim. There are enough differences to fall back on, I think, to keep Konami away.

[Tokzic]

this is already being discussed in the rock band thread

why did you make a new topic for it

[sumzup]

Originally Posted by Redorigami

So I don't think we should worry.

That's really interesting, actually. Hopefully at some point we can find out the particulars of this relationship.

Originally Posted by MrRubix

IMO this is an example of the downside to patents stifling innovation.

Most definitely. Almost all patent violation lawsuits should be thrown out...there are some that are valid, of course, which is why patents exist in the first place, but there is definitely a need for reform. I especially hate the companies that buy up patents and sit on them, meanwhile suing those that actually use technology that the patent supposedly covers. And the companies that get patents for things like "clicking device" or whatever; general patents are horrible.

Edit: Tokzic: I don't frequent the Rock Band thread, and I didn't even remember the thread in the first place. My bad. Oh well...

[Tasselfoot]

ROCK REVOLUTION!!!

Anyway... Rubix... Synth, Jason, and I were discussing this as a potential a few months ago. Clearly MTV and crew have the bank to fight the suit way better than Roxor did, but that doesn't mean that Konami still won't win. Konami holds patents on basically EVERYTHING dealing with rhythm-gaming... from scrolling arrows to the machines to the instruments to yada yada.

PS - I wish I could tell you guys what I know about Konami beyond cryptic stuff. But I can't.

[Dorby]

Originally Posted by Tasselfoot

PS - I wish I could tell you guys what I know about Konami beyond cryptic stuff. But I can't.

so you just throw it out there anyways?

[Mans0n]

Damn Tass is a insider, get him!
HE knows to much. And rockband is'nt very similar to DDR, other than the fact that Little blocks or w/e scroll and you click buttons to hit them.

[[TeRa]]

Yay, I have another reason as to why I boycott konami products.

[championanwar]

and to think, i liked konami alot, it seems as if they are after a quick buk now

[fastfingers65]

go get them konami

[[TeRa]]

They just sue anything that is similar to a game they have that gets bigger than theirs, and then they never make their game better, which is stupid of them.

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by Mans0n

Damn Tass is a insider, get him!
HE knows to much. And rockband is'nt very similar to DDR, other than the fact that Little blocks or w/e scroll and you click buttons to hit them.

Well, you also have to take into account that Konami did have Percussion Freaks (or something along that lines, I really can't remember). They didn't seem to contest Roxor that much on GH (at least nothing that I would have seen/remembered), but now that MTV is starting to make gigantic bucks with their one of a kind game, Konami (being personified in this example) is an opportunist, and they don't want anything in the way.

As far as Konami winning the case, I'm not sure. But groups have substantial amounts of money--it's not gonna be an easy walk in the park.

Originally Posted by fastfingers65

go get them konami

Way to show absolutely no relevance to the topic. At least specify why?

[Afrobean]

DrumMania and GuitarFreaks is NOTHING like the drumming or guitar playing in Rock Band. The only common element between them is the fact that they're both simulations.

Also: despite this patent being filed in these United States, Konami has NEVER released ANYTHING in the Western hemisphere relating to this sort of product. Their first instance will be Rock Revolution, coming out roughly a year after Rock Band, and multiple years after Guitar Hero first broke out on the scene with the concept that eventually lead to RB.

ps totally wrong forum, and the topic has already been brought up in relevant threads in the correct forum.

[EnR]

Guess they're going to have to sue GH4 now.

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by EnR

Guess they're going to have to sue GH4 now.

That's right...cause after GH3, didn't Roxor hand the rights to Harmonix (MTV)?

[Tasselfoot]

Afro covered basically what I was going to say... it has nothing to do with DDR. It has to do with DrumMania and GuitarFreaks.

[MrRubix]

Does Konami seriously have a patent monopoly on all that stuff? If that is true, then it's quite sad I'm not familiar with the history of their legal battles, but has Konami ever explicitly lost on one of their filed claims pertaining to patent defense?

[Sir_Thomas]

Originally Posted by championanwar

and to think, i liked konami alot, it seems as if they are after a quick buk now

http://mashable.com/2007/03/13/viacom-youtube/

Well, it happened. YouTubeYouTube is facing a $1 billion+ lawsuit from Viacom today. It was known that YouTube would eventually face at least one major lawsuit, and Viacom - which had already pulled 100,000 clips from the site, was perhaps the most likely to take a distaste to the company.

Viacom is accusing YouTube of “massive intentional copyright infringement”, saying that 160,000 unauthorized Viacom clips have been uploaded onto YouTube, totaling more than 1.5 billion views. In truth, the “more than $1 billion” figure sounds a little low: typically these companies seek the maximum sum of $150,000 per infringement. This was the case with Bolt.com, which decided to settle for $10 million rather than endure a lengthy legal battle against Universal.

Viacom, owner of MTV and Nickelodeon, put out a release regarding the YouTube case today, with the following statement:

There is no question that YouTube and Google are continuing to take the fruit of our efforts without permission and destroying enormous value in the process. This is value that rightfully belongs to the writers, directors and talent who create it and companies like Viacom that have invested to make possible this innovation and creativity.

So this is the ultimate showdown: a test whether you can “pull a YouTube” and get away with it. YouTube, frankly, has moved the video market forward faster than any other player, and that high risk game is ultimately good for users. If it had been left to Viacom and its ilk to move forward with Internet TV, we’d still be watching everything in Windows Media or Realplayer format, with no progress made over the past two years. These companies didn’t innovate, and suddenly found themselves contending with a young upstart that was driving more viewers to their content than they ever could. Fearing loss of control, particularly of the distribution channel, suing seemed like the best option for a company that’s anti-innovation. That said, YouTube was also so incredibly slow to roll out its copy protection, and only delivered a deal with AudibleMagic when we expected an in-house solution, that it gave these lawsuits the opportunity to bubble up.

More updates later.

Its all a game to these companies.
Viacom is a **** and a half anyway. Their marketing techniques are fowl and they would try to sell herpes to the crowd if it would make them a quick buck or two.

I mean, f**k.. They purposely popularisedgangsta rap with the sole intent on getting kids from the ghettos to look up on that sort of lifestyle so they would be more inclined to buy their merchandise.

Im sure Viacom conveniently forgot about the "bustin a cap in yo ass" part to that lifestyle...

...but this is why I couldnt give a flying **** in the first place.

[TC_Halogen]

It's a bit unfair for Konami to just try to shoot something down that was really innovative--it's something new that Konami didn't even think of. Now that someone beat them to the punch, they want to take advantage of it. Typical of Konami nowadays.

Pretty soon, someone other than Konami will make a game that is similar, yet better than Yu-Gi-Oh, and Konami will just go sue-happy on them too.

EDIT: A bit laggy there--I totally agree with Sir Thomas over there, the companies really don't care whether a game has the quality to appeal to the crowd, it's all about their profit.