The Romantics Sue Over Guitar Hero

Detroit rock band The Romantics have filed a federal lawsuit against Guitar Hero publisher Activision, claiming that the game’s cover version of 1980 hit “What I Like About You” infringes on the group’s rights. According to an Associated Press report the lawsuit was filed on Tuesday at the U.S. District Court in Detroit, seeking unspecified damages. The lawsuit admits that Activision did obtain the proper permissions for using the song in the game - but claims that the cover version was too close to the original recording, thereby infringing on the group’s rights to its own likeness. The song appears in standalone expansion pack Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the ‘80s, originally released in North America for PlayStation 2 in July 2007. The band’s attorneys have indicated that they are seeking an injunction that would force the game to be withdrawn from sale. Although around half of the songs in the newly released Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock feature recordings by the original artists, in previous Guitar Hero games the majority of songs were cover versions.