Last year Gibson, one of the exclusive partners of the Guitar Hero franchise, filed a lawsuit against Activision, EA/MTV Games and various retailers, claiming the game infringed on its 1999 patent for technology simulating a live performance using a musical instrument. Activision countersued, asking the U.S. District Court of California to declare Gibson's patent invalid and to bar it from seeking damages, and last Thursday, the U.S. District Court of Central California did just that.

Live the life of a law enforcement officer tasked with saving the world in Hudson Entertainment’s new release Miami Law, featuring explosive action, as well as crime-scene investigation, which players will use interchangeably to help save the city of Miami.

In June of last year, Anthony Puzo, son of The Godfather author Mario Puzo, sued Paramount Pictures for $1 million in damages for breach of contract over unpaid revenue from EA's video game adaptation of the movie trilogy. Reports have it that Paramount has now settled the case out of court with the plaintiff, although no terms were revealed.

Nintendo of America and Nyko Technologies announced they have settled a lawsuit brought by Nintendo regarding Nintendo’s intellectual property rights relating to its popular Nunchuk controller and Nyko's identical looking Kama wireless controller.

Last month THQ filed a lawsuit with the US District Court of Central California against Activision, claiming the SCORE International Baja 1000 box cover was too similar to its own BAJA title released the month before, and now the two companies have settled the case out of court with Activision admitting something was afoot as it has changed the official retail box to something not so identical.

Back in Sept. Maryland resident Melissa Thomas filed a $5 million class action lawsuit against EA in regard Spore's intrusive DRM policies. According to GamePolitics two more suits have been filed, one revolving "the inclusion of undisclosed, secretly installed DRM protection measures with a program that was freely distributed" (the Spore demo), and the other by a Sims player calling it "immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous," stating that it causes all sort of computer problems that were not there before.

The ESA praised Congress for passing and the President for signing into law the “Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008," which will enhance the ability of U.S. law enforcement to address serious intellectual property crimes and prosecute international violations.

The state of California today reimbursed the ESA $282,794 for attorney’s fees after the state attempted to defend an unconstitutional law restricting the constitutional rights of video game publishers, developers and consumers.

Nintendo filed suit in the Tokyo District Court against several companies that sell DS flash cart units (R4 Revolution / CycloDS Evolution), which allow homebrew material but are also used to load pirated games. According to Japanese news service Nikkei Net, Nintendo did not fly solo, as it was joined by 54 other companies such as Capcom, JNH Co., Sega. SNK and Square Enix. While Nintendo has sold in excess of 70 million NDSes, it claims that piracy cost the company, and its partners, $1 billion in 2007.

GameInvest unveiled the summer’s hottest legal team in its newest title, Defenders of Law, Inc.: Crime in Willburg, a puzzle-based crime drama where players piece together clues and compile evidence in order to solve a murder mystery.

When Activision announced last year that it would merge with Vivendi Games not all its shareholders were in agreement with the $18.9 billion deal. Wayne County Employees' Retirement System filed a preliminary injunction which has now been denied by the Delaware Court of Chancery, so the merger can move forward.

People who were offended by the sexual content of last year's Hot Coffee mod could receive between $5 and $35 restitution if they joined the class action lawsuit. Even though the main stream media widely reported on the matter and various politicians joined the crusade, only 2,676 people signed on for the settlement, according The New York Times. Initially Take Two was facing $2.75 million in fines, but with the small turnout the publisher is only looking at $30,000. On the other hand, the various lawyers involved in the filing are seeking $1.3 million in legal fees.

After Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki resigned, and revealed he was filing a lawsuit against Tecmo for outstanding payments, rumors started flying that dozens of additional employees left and similarly filed suit. Tecmo issued a statement saying the rumors are false and, that it only two employees, while it is currently in the process of resolving outstanding compensations to its staff.

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed into law the 2008 Entertainment Industry Investment Act (HB 1100), new legislation designed to encourage entertainment industry productions such as qualified films, TV series, commercials, music videos, and video game productions, in Georgia.

Back in 2006 Texas based Anascape Ltd. filed suit against Nintendo and Microsoft for infringing on one of its patents (3D controller with vibration) it had filed in 2000. While Microsoft immediately settled out of court, Nintendo decided to go all the way and fight the lawsuit. Now Federal court has ruled in favor of Anascape and awarded it a settlement of $21 million. Nintendo plans to file an appeal in order to reduce the penalty.

Section 8 is a futuristic FPS that brings strategy and tactics to the genre in a game where players can modify the battlefield on the fly. In Section 8 you are part of an elite infantry squad with a penchant for taking on suicide missions. TimeGate Studios has reached a settlement in its trademark infringement dispute with ABC Studios over an upcoming Section 8 TV series.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 adds new gameplay features and stunning visuals, players will encounter a solo campaign that uses new tactical possibilities in various locations around Sin City, co-op and adversarial modes. Ever since the game's launch PS3 owners have been unable to enjoy multiplayer, and Ubisoft so far only said it is looking into the matter. One forum user revealed that "his uncle's lawfirm" has been hired to sue Ubisoft for releasing a product not as advertised.

Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law is a fully animated interactive adventure, allowing players will step into the shiny wingtips of Harvey Birdman, a third-rate superhero turned third-rate defense attorney charged with exonerating parodied classic cartoon characters.

The Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) and the Agencia Federal de Investigacion (AFI) recently raided four facilities involved in burning pirate copies of video games in the notorious Tepito area in Mexico City, seizing roughly 290 DVD/CD burners, 28,800 illegal copies of video games and more than 900,000 video game cover inserts.

The Wayne County Employees' Retirement System has filed lawsuit against the not yet officially formed Activision and Vivendi merger, according to the Delaware Online web site. The local investment group claims that its Activision shares will turn into an unfavorable minority position after the two publishers/developers become one entity ( thanks FiringSquad).

A few weeks ago Capcom filed a preemptive lawsuit against MKR Group, producer of 1979's George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead, to avoid being sued over the similarities between the two properties. However MKR filed complaint in U.S. District Court in New York claiming both products are "dark comedies," that "the recreational activities of the zombies and absurdly grotesque 'kill scenes' provide unexpected comedic relief," as well as "Both works provided thoughtful social commentary on the 'mall culture' zeitgeist, in addition to serving up a sizable portion of sensationalistic violence." To be continued ...

Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law is a fully animated interactive adventure, allowing players will step into the shiny wingtips of Harvey Birdman, a third-rate superhero turned third-rate defense attorney charged with exonerating parodied classic cartoon characters.

Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law is a fully animated interactive adventure, allowing players will step into the shiny wingtips of Harvey Birdman, a third-rate superhero turned third-rate defense attorney charged with exonerating parodied classic cartoon characters.

A federal judge in Detroit on Monday, Dec. 17 denied The Romantics' request to stop the use of the song "What I Like About You" in Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s, saying that to the extent there were any copyright issues, Activision did exactly what the company was supposed to do in developing the product.

Last month, Playlogic claimed victory in the Ancient Wars: Sparta copyright lawsuit against developer Burut/WorldForge, but it seems the Dutch publisher may have been a little hasty. WorldForge is going to appeal the District Court of Amsterdam's decision, claiming that it disagrees with the ruling in regards to the contractual relation between both sides, since Visionvale has terminated the development agreement because Playlogic has defaulted on it, and thus holds the rights.