Think the telecasting game industriousness is all sport and games ? Think again . Video games have been the subject of some very monolithic lawsuits over the years , and issue involving developer , character , controversies , and ware have tied up court of justice around the world and resulted in multi - million dollar perspicacity and settlements . And nobody in the TV game world seems to be safe . Everyone from Pac - Man to Donkey Kong has been dragged into ugly sound battles over the class . Here is a list of 11 video games that result in major lawsuit .
11. Grand Theft Auto - Hot Coffee
One of the most publicized TV game case was a result of the “ Hot Coffee ” mod inGrand Theft Auto : San Andreas . Rockstar Games originally programme in an explicit sex minigame , where the instrumentalist had to perform sure clitoris movements for make the in - secret plan fictitious character please his girlfriend . The entire picture was finally scrapped from the game , but the code remained . WhenGTA : SAwas released for the microcomputer in 2005 , tech geeks quickly uncovered the minigame . Soon , it was also potential to hack the Xbox and PlayStation versions to unlock the Hot Coffee scene .
10. The Olsen Twins vs. Acclaim
recall those lovable Olsen twins from the TV showFull House ? Mary - Kate and Ashley Olsen were their own industry back in the belated 1990s and early 2000s . Their likeness was used to sell everything from metric ton - shirts and lunch boxes , to records and video game . And it was the Gemini the Twins ’ involvement with video game that resulted in a major lawsuit . In 2004 , Mary - Kate and Ashley sued video game newspaper publisher hail over $ 177,966.32 in back royalties after their company Dualstar Entertainment split from Acclaim a year to begin with . Acclaim was to pay back the royal family plus pastime , as well as a $ 300,000 penalty fee after their gameMary - Kate and Ashley in ACTION!was cancelled across political program that admit the GameCube , Game Boy Advance , PlayStation 2 , and microcomputer . A letter of the alphabet from the Olsen twin ’s lawyer to Acclaim asserted that the video game publishing house “ blatantly abandoned the Mary - Kate and Ashley brand and has taken the Mary - Kate and Ashley brand in TV games , which had flourished , and has now run it into the ground . ” Acclaim settled out of Margaret Court and learned never to span the Gemini the Twins again .
9. Mortal Kombat - Wilson vs. Midway Games
This lawsuit stemmed from a somewhat gruesome event that occurred back in the 1990s . In 1997 , a 13 - twelvemonth - sometime son name Noah Wilson pass away after his best friend stabbed him in the chest with a kitchen knife . Noah ’s female parent took steps to litigate Midway Games , God Almighty of the popular fighting gameMortal Kombat , lay claim that her boy ’s best ally was addicted and obsessed with the violent game and that he believed he was the type Cyrax , who was described as “ a robotic ninja . ” A lengthy court case ensued and the jurist rule that Midway Games was not nonresistant for the end under the First Amendment , as the State of Connecticut could not violate their liberal language right to make telecasting games , regardless of violence . Still , this incident help to reinforce the movement against violent video games that continues to this daylight .
8. Guitar Hero - The Romantics Vs. Activision
American rock band The Romantics file a lawsuit against Activision over the utilisation of their song “ What I Like About You ” being boast inGuitar Hero Encore : Rocks the 80s , which was released back in 2007 . Despite giving Activision written license to use a cover version of the song , the Detroit - based band claimed that the song used in the video game sounded too much like their original . Activision defend itself , read that a cover version of a Sung should go like the original . After much back - and - Forth River between each company ’s lawyers , a federal judge sided with Activision under the original license concord the company had acquired from The Romantics , observe that the band had given permit for their call to be used inGuitar Hero . After losing that shell , The Romantics then tried to sue for a with child portion of royalties from sales ofGuitar Hero . The lot lost that suit too .
7. NCAA Basketball 2014 - O’Bannon and Keller Vs. Electronic Arts
In 2009 , former collegial athletes Ed O’Bannon and Sam Keller register a lawsuit against video plot steamroller Electronic Arts and the Collegiate Licensing Company , claiming they were not paid royalty when their likeness were used inNCAA BasketballandNCAA Footballvideo games develop by EA Sports . This lawsuit stimulate a lot of consternation both at EA and within the NCAA , as both organisation fear a skin rash of future legal military action from college jock who were boast in sports telecasting games . The pillowcase never made it to trial , however . O’Bannon and Keller steady down out of court with EA for an undisclosed heart and soul of money in 2013 , while the company announced that they would no longer sellNCAA football game 2014 , putting the franchise ’s time to come on ice in the process .
6. Donkey Kong vs. King Kong
Universal Studios filed a lawsuit against Nintendo for right of first publication violation in 1982 , claim that Nipponese video game Godhead Shigeru Miyamoto had establish the character Donkey Kong and his telecasting game storey on the 1933 filmKing Kong , which was the flick studio ’s intellectual property . Parent society Nintendo fought the lawsuit and arrogate that King Kong was in the public demesne after it was revealed that Universal had action rival movie studio apartment RKO — the movie studio that made the original 1933 film — over King Kong ’s film rights . At the time , Universal also exact that King Kong was in the public domain when they made a black remake of the film star Jeff Bridges in 1976 . A few years after Universal file the lawsuit , the United States District Court sided with Nintendo and decree that King Kong was indeed in the public knowledge domain , andDonkey Kongdid not infract any copyright that Universal Studios had title over . Nintendo was present $ 1.8 million from Universal Studios to cover their legal costs in the subject .
5. Lineage II - Smallwood vs. NCsoft
This causa comes straight from the bizarre file . In 2010 , a Hawaiian man named Craig Smallwood filed a cause against the South Korean company NCsoft for making the massive multiplayer online gameLineage II“too habit-forming . ” In his legal filing , Smallwood take that , from 2004 to 2009 , he had invest more than 20,000 hours diddle the secret plan and averaged about 11 hours of gameplay each and every day . He further claimed that he became psychologically dependant and addicted toLineage IIand was “ unable to function independently in usual daily activities such as arrest up , getting dressed , bathing or pass along with family and Friend . ” He even liken his situation to a diacetylmorphine addiction . The causa continued to hold NCsoft unresistant because the caller neglect to put up any monition that MMO play could be so addictive . The lawcourt threw out the lawsuit in 2011 , and referred Smallwood to psychological counselling .
4. New Super Mario Bros. - Nintendo vs. Burt
This legal case represents an interesting effect with illegal downloading . A 24 - yr - erstwhile Australian man named James Burt was ordered to give Nintendo $ 1.5 million after he managed to bribe an former version ofNew Super Mario Bros.for the Wii and illicitly uploaded the game to the net . The filing cabinet was download more than 50,000 times in five Day , the week before it was to be released in November 2009 . This was a clear “ no - no , ” as copying and allot video games without permission is a infringement of the Copyright Act under Australian law . Nintendo and Burt came to an out - of - court settlement agreement that reverberate the video game company ’s loss of receipts for a full week of sales . Burt had to devote an extra $ 100,000 to Nintendo for the troupe ’s effectual bills and motor hotel cost . Although Nintendo ab initio sued Burt , the caller gave him a very single talent after the issue was satisfactorily settled — a limited editionLegend of Zelda : The Wind Wakerstatue . So , a happy ending of kind on this one .
3. Unlicensed Nintendo Games - Nintendo Vs. Tengen
At the height of the NES ’s popularity in the late 1980s and into the early 90s , Nintendo had very rigid license agreements with third - party developers to only release five game per year , and these claim would be sole to Nintendo for a two - twelvemonth full point . Nintendo indicate that this ensured high quality games for consumers and that they would put the official “ Nintendo Seal of Quality ” on each undivided game . However , in 1987 , the Atari Corporation split into two divisions , Atari Games and Tengen , and attempt to negotiate a less restrictive license with Nintendo . The executive director at Nintendo refused to renegociate and Tengen turn to the United States Copyright Office to take pattern of Nintendo ’s lock chamber - out chip to reverse applied scientist and bypass it , so they could sell as many unlicensed video game for the NES as they wanted . As soon as Nintendo get wind of Tengen ’s action at law , they launched a massive lawsuit for copyright and patent of invention infringement . The causa drag in on for years , but the U.S. courtyard eventually side with Nintendo . The two sides then make up the lawsuit out of court in 1996 .
2. Pac-Man and K.C. Munchkin - Atari Vs. Philips
In the early 1980s , Pac - Manwas the hot thing in video game , and pop culture for that thing . Eager to capitalize on the popularity of the type , Namco and Midway were busily developing a house variation port ofPac - Manfor the Atari 2600 cabinet – taking the yellow battery-acid eater from the arcade field and into the great unwashed ’s living rooms . But a year before Atari ’s plan release ofPac - Manfor the 2600 cabinet , Magnavox and Philips Electronics debuted the telecasting gameK.C. Munchkin , which resembledPac - Manso much that it was almost embarrassing . K.C. Munchkinwas uncommitted for the Philips Videopac home console . The game ’s twist levels and its ghost - corresponding monsters bore an uncanny resemblance toPac - Man . The similarity were undeniable . In 1982 , Atari sued Philips for copyright infringement and an appellate courtroom found that Philips had copiedPac - Manalmost whole . The Court ’s ruling was the first to recognize how right of first publication law would apply to the look and feeling of computer software . Later in the year , Atari release the homeport ofPac - Man , and it trade seven million copy and became one of the best - selling video games of all time .
1. Pong - Magnavox Vs. Atari
A lawsuit involving the mere video game ever ? You well believe it . In 1972 , Atari ’s electronic board lawn tennis gamePong , the first reliable rest home video biz , became a sensation . Ralph Baer , inventor of the Magnavox Odyssey gaming console that playedPong , seek legal action against Atari . Baer claimed in his cause that Atari co - founder Nolan Bushnell had copied Magnavox ’s variant of electronic Ping - Pong after Bushnell played the game at a Magnavox franchise demo a few calendar month beforePongwas eject . Bushnell ab initio balked at the lawsuit but quickly settle down of motor lodge in 1976 , despite his attorney ’s advice to take it to tribulation . Bushnell had honorable intellect to settle the case . At that meter , Atari was a fledgling jump - up , and the legal price involved in the case would ’ve exceeded the caller ’s full investment trust . If they had go to tryout , Atari belike would not have been able-bodied to make payroll department . As part of the settlement , Atari continue to sellPongin arcade around North America , and on dwelling console while pay up licensing and royalty fee to Magnavox .
