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In addition to looking at the lighter and weirder side of the game industry, System Update provides the latest information on weekly console updates, DLC, game-specific updates, and other game-industry flotsam and jetsam.

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Nintendo sued over Paper Mario ads

Last week, a John McCain ad made gaming headlines for incorporating the work of Medal of Honor: European Assault composer and Barack Obama supporter Christopher Lennertz. At the same time, Nintendo was wrapping up a brief legal tussle with Morgan Creek Productions over audio appropriation of its own.

As reported by Game Politics, a suit filed on June 12 by Morgan Creek alleged that Nintendo had illegally used music from the 1993 Christian Slater film True Romance to promote its 2004 GameCube game Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. The piece--Hans Zimmer's "You're So Cool"--plays in the background of the 30-second spot, which can be seen on Google Video.

While the bouncy song may seem a good match for the charming style of the Paper Mario series, the movie it is pulled from is thematically at odds with the popular mascot. Written by Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, From Dusk Til Dawn) and directed by Tony Scott (Man on Fire, Days of Thunder), True Romance is a love story about a guy who falls in love with a prostitute, kills her pimp, and goes on the run while trying to sell a significant stash of cocaine.

Morgan Creek had been seeking damages related to the song's use, at least until it voluntarily dismissed the case on June 18. Neither the film company's lawyers nor Nintendo's representatives had returned GameSpot's requests for comment as of press time.

162 Comments

  • wolfhawk13

    Posted May 7, 2009 11:43 am PT

    I seriously think this Morgan Creek dude is crazy

  • Domenico54

    Posted Jul 24, 2008 11:16 am PT

    Maybe I can understand if it was in the awardwinning game but the stupid commercial ive never seen before? The game is 4 years old and thats stupid and greedy.

  • DIGN

    Posted Jun 28, 2008 1:48 pm PT

    OMG who gives a care if you care so much for some stupid money then you should of said somthin 4 years ago but now is too late and why would you want to kill mario hes been with us science we were babies and almost everyone loves that turtle stomping plumer so why sew him ....... some polotics today will do anything for money.

  • VelociBlade

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 6:02 pm PT

    I have to agree with saitorik on this one. Not only does the ad suck but was illegally ripping a song for a stupid commercial really worth it? I don't think so. Besides, like Toiletmunger said, it came out FOUR YEARS AGO and they're suing over it now!? Either The legal system is slow, the News is slow, or this is a false lawsuit so suing may not be the best choice for Morgan Creek.

  • Saitorik

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 9:50 am PT

    OMG its like these cos. r just trying 2 get money by suing NIN10DO
    its a stupid 30 sec song who gives a crap

  • cooldude03

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 8:02 am PT

    why wait this long to file suit? Oh I get it gamecube didn't sell well and with Wii selling so well Nintendo's a great target for a lawsuit.

  • unsunggates360

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 6:08 am PT

    WoW! Another Jack Thompson! Gamers everywhere rejoice!

  • starf0x999

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 3:53 pm PT

    aint it a bit late?
    screw that morgan creek dude

  • Kravyn81

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 3:31 pm PT

    Polybren wrote:
    "...a love story about a guy who falls in love with a prostitute, kills her pimp, and goes on the run while trying to sell a significant stash of cocaine."

    Sounds like a great family-friendly romp to me!

  • Shishio817

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 2:48 pm PT

    Nintendo probably should have acquired permission/a license to use the song first.

  • amkalfus

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 2:08 pm PT

    people just want money and will find anyway to get... wait til nintendo is sued for looking too much like nintendo.... lame politics

  • Shamasheen

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 1:46 pm PT

    One of my favorite movies of all time. "You're so cool" has been used a million times since that movie, other films and commercials. But I'm sure they paid to use it -- seems odd that Nintendo would so blatantly steal a well known score. Other names from the film: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Michael Rapaport, Val Kilmer, Bronson Pinchot, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Tom Sizemore, Christopher Walken, Samuel L. Jackson, James Gandolfini. If you've never seen this movie you owe it to yourself. Some of the best lines and scenes EVAR.

  • Units420

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 1:42 pm PT

    First, True Romance is a great movie. Second, how is this bad karma when the article says the case has been dismissed?

  • taj7575

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 1:31 pm PT

    see nintendo? bad karma. you sued nyko for no reason and now youre gonna get sewed. what goes around comes back around to haunt you.

  • Henninger

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 1:21 pm PT

    Y waste time & money & then shut it down? Makes no sense 2 me unless they got a settlement that wasn't reported.

  • darkride66

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 12:52 pm PT

    squidracerX said Ummm one of the richest game companies in the world STEALS a song for a major game advertisement.... THATS NOT MAJOR????"
    You got me, you got me! I shouldn't try to diminish this lawsuit. It's wrong, they shouldn't have done it. Sue away, Morgan Creek. Sue away.

  • Kenji_Masamune

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 12:50 pm PT

    plagiarism = phail

  • squidracerX

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 12:43 pm PT

    DARKRIDE66 says: "It just seems like if you're going to sue someone, sue them for being legitimately screwed over and not for things like this"...

    Ummm one of the richest game companies in the world STEALS a song for a major game advertisement.... THATS NOT MAJOR???? Mario is big enough to pay for his own mistakes, and Nintendo prides itself on a squeky clean image, this is not a victimless crime.

  • Altair1337

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 12:41 pm PT

    aren't there studios to make music for games?

  • nickythenewt21

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 12:40 pm PT

    Why didn't this happen when the game came out? Both a new system and a sequel have come out since then, and you just realized that Nintendo illegally used your music now? That's kind of strange, imo.

  • darkride66

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 12:38 pm PT

    @ brianpoetzel. You're right. This isn't about MS. It just seems like if you're going to sue someone, sue them for being legitimately screwed over and not for things like this, or the fans suing EA for their NFL license deal.

  • brianpoetzel

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 12:25 pm PT

    Come on darkride. Why do you always have to make it about MS, even in an article that has nothing to do with MS.

  • diablo_del_bano

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 12:01 pm PT

    darkride, Microsoft has such an UNGODLY amount of money behind them, I doubt there is a single case (short of federal... maybe [politicians can be bought...]) that they COULDN'T settle out of court.

  • edhc44

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 11:58 am PT

    You know... I just don't care anymore...

    PS: Wasn't it for Christian Slater, this movie sounds like it could be cool

  • hazuki

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 11:47 am PT

    And wasn't it just a few weeks ago that nintendo sued nyko after making a wireless nunchuck? If nintendos going to sue for 'patent infringement', then don't steal other propertys either.

  • darkride66 posted Jun 25, 2008 11:33 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    darkride66

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 11:33 am PT (hide)

    Logorrhea said "Maybe because Microsoft paid up a billion friggin dollars and offered free repair service for the RROD."
    Perhaps I should have used smaller words. MS settled these lawsuits quietly out of court. If they were confident that they did everything they could, and were happy with the 3 year warranty, then they should have had a strong position and could have just fought this. But they didn't, did they? The settled out of court and kept all the details private.
    And yeah, the 3 year warranty is all fine and good but personally I'd rather have a console that didn't die on me every 6 months to be replaced by a refurbed machine that then dies on me in 6 months.
    That's just me. I don't know, maybe some of you like sending in your consoles for repair. To each his own.

  • darkride66 posted Jun 25, 2008 11:02 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    darkride66

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 11:02 am PT (hide)

    I was thinking. How does a lawsuit for something like this go forward and MS can screw millions of gamers with RROD and nothing happens to them? So I thought I'd look it up and there were two lawsuits in the US regarding rrod against MS. MS apparently settled quietly out of court and the specifics were never made public. So if anyone is vacationing in the Bahamas and see a yacht named "S.S. MSPAIDMETOKEEPQUIET" I think this mystery may just be solved.

  • tonypreston

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 10:49 am PT

    So, this news article is about a lawsuit that was pulled a week ago about a commercial that aired 4 years ago? Thanks for the update!

  • frogiggy323

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 10:43 am PT

    It's wrong for Nintendo not to pay royalties, but why in the world do people wait this long to finally bring up a court case? My favorite so far was the Gibson's law suit over Guitar Hero.

  • loopy_101

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 10:41 am PT

    That was 4 years ago, why now suddenly?

  • diablo_del_bano

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 10:33 am PT

    I do believe that Nintendo should have paid royalties on the song, but come on, THE AD AIRED 4 YEARS AGO! Nintendo doesn't even publish the game that it was advertising anymore! perhaps a lawsuit would have been appropriate then, but now it seems kind of moot.

  • sixerforlife

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 10:29 am PT

    i guess whe ur broke u'll do what ever it takes to get some money

  • Gamenutz

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 10:26 am PT

    I suppose Nintendo can expect a suit from the Studio that produced the music for Conan the Barbarian, the prominently use the suite called Riders of Doom in all of their Legend of Zelda trailers and commercials

  • lew_0911

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 10:25 am PT

    That makes me want to look for legal loopholes for Pong or Arkanoid, and I don't even have to hurry.

  • wilmepe

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 10:14 am PT

    That's a great movie!!

  • iceveiled

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 10:01 am PT

    Sue for damages? True Romance is getting free advertising right here and on thousands of other websites with this lawsuit as a headline....

  • LittleYoshi

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 9:56 am PT

    "I blame Paper Mario, how many trees died to make that game"

  • CageFury

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 9:39 am PT

    "Morgan Creek had been seeking damages related to the song's use, at least until it voluntarily dismissed the case on June 18."

    Sue for something that happened 4 years ago and then dismiss it 6 days later? I want some of those drugs...

  • kikook

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 9:31 am PT

    Wow......Is Morgan expecting to win?

  • dzjere

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 9:31 am PT

    Don't they know that you can't use music without paying royalties?? C'mon a big company like Nintendo should've known that! btw True Romance is a very good movie

  • FallenAngelXBL

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 9:20 am PT

    Why would they even bother sueing over something so stupid?

  • ChuckNorris82 posted Jun 25, 2008 9:12 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    ChuckNorris82

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 9:12 am PT (hide)

    R people so brain dead, that they start sueing from something that happened 4 YEARS AGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I"M TAKEING NINTENDOS SIDE ON THIS ONE!!!

  • Opul

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 9:11 am PT

    TheCritic9393 If only Nintendo would steal good music -----

    It's actually a good song if you listen to it, obviously you wouldnt be able to appreciate things like that though.

  • athenian29

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 9:10 am PT

    Wow. Just wow. If the movie people were going to sue, why didn't they do it while the commercial was still airing? The timing couldn't be worse, so the only thing they're going to win out of this is a bad rep.

  • salans07

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 8:58 am PT

    Wow people will sue over anything. Whats next Bowzer of Sha na na suing Nintendo.

  • Falco_648

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 8:45 am PT

    Its not in the game, Its on a 30 second commercial,and that game is OLD. So who cares anymore. Stupid reason to sue.

  • TheCritic9393 posted Jun 25, 2008 8:42 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    TheCritic9393

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 8:42 am PT (hide)

    If only Nintendo would steal good music and put it INTO their games. I find all the music in their first party Wii games to be childish and just plain annoying after ten minutes.

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