Harmonix files, promptly withdraws suit against Activision

By Emma Boyes, GameSpot UKPosted Mar 12, 2008 3:30 am PT

Rock Band studio sues publisher over Guitar Hero III royalties, but drops suit a day later in favor of out-of-court negotiations.

Viacom-owned Harmonix Music Systems on Monday filed a lawsuit at the California Superior Court in Los Angeles claiming that Activision owes it some $14.5 million, reports Variety. In a very quick turnaround, by Tuesday, it had withdrawn the suit and decided to discuss it all in a civilized manner outside of court instead.

The suit alleges that Activision has paid Harmonix the wrong royalty rate for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. The first rate, which is half of the higher rate, should be paid if a Guitar Hero game is made from scratch and the higher rate if a game "incorporates, uses, or is derived from Harmonix property."

Harmonix created the original Guitar Hero game for RedOctane, which was bought out by Activision in 2006. Harmonix was acquired by Viacom's MTV Networks in 2006 and has recently released Rock Band, which features drums and vocals, as well as guitars.

In February, Activision touted the Guitar Hero franchise as having sold more than 14 million copies in North America alone, with Guitar Hero III alone accruing more than 5 million songs downloaded. Harmonix's maiden effort with the Rock Band franchise has been no slouch itself, going platinum in January and claiming 2.5 million songs downloaded.

However, Harmonix reckons it's owed some $14.5 million in extra royalties for Guitar Hero III and also points out that it hasn't seen any royalties from song downloads, in-game advertising, or any "ancillary products."

Activision's lawyer, general counsel George Rose countered by saying, "Activision believes it has made sufficient payments to Harmonix and the claims otherwise do not have merit."

60 Comments

  • Brainy142

    Posted Mar 14, 2008 4:35 pm PT

    they should STFU and fix the wii version and work on getting us more songs

  • ItsRichie

    Posted Mar 14, 2008 1:45 pm PT

    well... rock band wii will be a must buy

  • Eldridge00

    Posted Mar 14, 2008 6:28 am PT

    Good for Harmonix, i hope they put a little fear in Activisions eyes with this. This is what Activision deserves for their half assed commitment to GH3

  • NintendoWarrior

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 4:52 pm PT

    lol.....
    Activision are sellouts for releasing Guitar Hero: Aerosmith?
    lol did everyone forget rock the 80's, also GH3 has loads of free DLC and they paid for famous guitarists and guitars, which nearly balances out the ingame ads

    calm down guys, its not EA, its Activision, they published that game you all worship: COD 4

  • doobist

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 11:05 am PT

    ...still waiting for a PS3 patch so I can use GH3 guitar on RB.....

  • oblivion_blaze

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 10:53 am PT

    to Reaper1117: didnt activision help make call of duty 4?

  • Reaper1117

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 9:49 am PT

    Activision hasn't made a good game since........... (insert name of game here because I can't think of any.)

  • Choquette

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 9:42 am PT

    I think Activision s*cks bad time, cause they ruined a perfect game called ''Guitar Hero 3'' Harmonix had better ideas with Guitar hero 2, It didnt look great but man It didnt lag has hell. It didnt have bugs like when they lunched GH3. And for a game Called GH3 the game GH2 and Gh1 and the Guitar should work with it! Anyway thats my Opinion!

  • ewmgreendawg

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 8:35 am PT

    I fully support anybody trying to sue activision. They ruined skateboarding games and now their trying to steal the control system from EA's SKATE for their next tony hawk title. everybody i know who has GH3 has had their guitar break, the song downloads are limited and expensive, the in-game advertising is lame as hell.... i can go on all day.

  • NeleNel

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 5:28 am PT

    In court, out of court, it all comes down to money no matter how you look at it.

  • TehUndeadHorror

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 3:12 am PT

    Damn you EA... wait what?

  • Maximo03

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 2:58 am PT

    I hate people who say RB is better than GH. Opinions like that are not acceptable in an article that's about the companies suing each other. If you're going to post on the page with an article, then comment about the article, not your own stubborn opinions.

  • _Horde

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 1:45 am PT

    Respect to Harmonix for choosing to discuss it outside of the court.

  • Tylendal

    Posted Mar 12, 2008 11:39 pm PT

    This actually sounds justifiable for once.

  • gmagnus

    Posted Mar 12, 2008 10:44 pm PT

    This isn't greed; Harmonix is just saying they got short-changed, that Activision didn't pay them the agreed upon amount. They didn't just make up something crazy to sue them for. They even changed their minds about suing them THE NEXT DAY and they're gonna talk it out.

  • ibanezdropd

    Posted Mar 12, 2008 9:21 pm PT

    harmonix sold the guitar hero franchise.... they need to let it go

  • cckcmain

    Posted Mar 12, 2008 8:11 pm PT

    What a fight this whole franchise has been. Reminds me of the early days of 2D fighting games.

  • BigSmitts07

    Posted Mar 12, 2008 8:09 pm PT

    greedy....

  • troopershades

    Posted Mar 12, 2008 7:44 pm PT

    i need to become a lawyer....sweet jeebus... next on the docket... Fatass sues Major League Eating game for the wii cuz it made him more fat from eating.

  • ChuckNorris82

    Posted Mar 12, 2008 4:53 pm PT

    HAHA!!! TAKE THAT HARMONIX!!!! WOOO!!!!! "xblane" I know man what ever happend to that good o'l gaming....and "Muppetguy21" that.....would.....be.....AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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