Judge favours Activision in Romantics court case

Not long ago, '80s band The Romantics filed a court case against Activision, Harmonix and Red Octane - the developers and publisher behind Guitar Hero Encore: Rock the '80s. Yesterday, that case was presented before a judge so that a decision could be made.

The case, which saw The Romantics alleging that the cover version of their song What I Like About You used in the game was 'too similar', was dismissed by Judge Nancy G. Edmunds according to Next-Gen.

The Romantics case was built on the idea that the song was so similar to their own that gamers may mistake it for the original version. The Judge seemed to agree, thankfully realising that that's the whole point of a cover song. We can only hope she went on to tell them what n00bs they are.

Judge Edmunds blocked The Romantic' request for a preliminary injunction to prevent the game from being sold, ensuring that the game will continue to sell as well as any game which has since been superseded by a sequel - in this case, Guitar Hero 3.

“In making the ruling, Judge Edmunds indicated that to the extent there were any copyright issues, Activision did exactly what the company was supposed to do in developing the product,” Activision said in a statement.

Did Judge Edmunds make the right call, or do you think that Judge Judy would have had something else to say on the matter? Let us know what you think in the forums.