[Nirolak]

/applaud

Video game Def Jam Rapstar is once again the subject of a lawsuit, as the City National Bank has alleged that publishers Konami and Autumn Games lied to secure a loan for the distribution of the title. Def Jam Rapstar was released at the end of 2010, and invites players to rap along with popular songs. It is already part of an ongoing lawsuit, as record label giant EMI says that 4mm Games and Terminal Reality, the developers behind the title, did not acquire the rights for a number of songs used in the game. City National now claims that Konami and Autumn Games assured the bank that revenue from sales of the game would go towards covering the $14 million loan that was given to the companies, reports Courthouse News. Konami and Autumn allegedly told the bank that Def Jam Rapstar was projected to ship 2.5 million units in its first year -- projections which the bank calls "baseless and unrealistic" in its complaint. Furthermore, the bank says that it is yet to see a penny paid back from the companies towards the loan repayment. ...

Source: http://gamasutra.com/view/news/17092...pstar_loan.php

[ascii42]

2.5 million? Yeah, that's a bit of a long shot.

How much did it actually sell?

[Rygar 8 Bit]

over 1 million you say?

[Barrel Cannon]

Where did all that money go to. Making a sing-a-long game isn't that complicated and if they didn't pay to license that music then there's something seriously wrong with this picture.

[Weenerz]

Konami couldn't afford $14 million?

[Jay-B]

Should have marketed the shit out of it.

[cw_sasuke]

Konami has to take a loan to publish/distribute a title ? Weird....

[massoluk]

They couldn't make a loan repayment? They can't possibly be in some financial difficulties. How did they forget to pay the bills?

[Eggo]

Where did all that money go to. Making a sing-a-long game isn't that complicated and if they didn't pay to license that music then there's something seriously wrong with this picture.

What makes you think they didn't license the music? The game used the actual music videos. They must have paid a ton in licensing.

[akilshohen]

Konami has to take a loan to publish/distribute a title ? Weird....

Autumn took the loan, but Konami has gotten themselves in a ton of mess over this game. There's also this

[Deadly Cyclone]

I was sad that this game died so fast. What I wouldn't give for Harmonix to make a rap game with album DLC...

[Vice]

What makes you think they didn't license the music? The game used the actual music videos. They must have paid a ton in licensing.

EMI says they didn't pay for many of the songs used in the game.

[Lambtron]

I was sad that this game died so fast. What I wouldn't give for Harmonix to make a rap game with album DLC...

Me too. This is easily my favorite karaoke type game. I should probably buy up the rest of the DLC that I want.

[Scirrocco]

To give you an idea of the scope of the lawsuit, Daft Punk's "Better, Faster, Harder, Stronger" is named in the lawsuit because it was sampled in Kanye West's "Stronger."

If this is where the majority of the unlicensed use comes from, its not so black and white. Did Kanye have to get the license when he sampled the song? If not, then they barely have a case. although if they didn't license the kanye song...

[krae_man]

If this is where the majority of the unlicensed use comes from, its not so black and white. Did Kanye have to get the license when he sampled the song? If not, then they barely have a case. although if they didn't license the kanye song...

I think the issue is what did Kanye's license grant him? I'm guessing it had limits and one of them was he can't sell the song to commercials/video games etc without permission/further compensation to Daft Punk.

[sangreal]

What makes you think they didn't license the music? The game used the actual music videos. They must have paid a ton in licensing.

It says they didnt license many songs right in the OP

[Alcool313]

Well Kanye does not own his masters (just like 99% of mainstream artists), so Konami would have been dealing directly with the record labels. Problem is that most Hip-Hop songs include several samples, many of which are kept hidden by producers since it is actually the label's job to clear samples and they often refuse to, based on the amount and difficulty. Remember samples are not only vocal, and often times drum or string patterns in Hip-Hop beats are samples as well. Consequently it is these patterns where most copyright infringement suits come from since those are much harder to prove.

And as far as to why Konami would use a bank to fund 14$ million, there are several reasons for using outside funding. Could be that with the strength of the Yen (bad thing for Konami esp. considering the main target audience of the game) taking a short term bank loan would actually come out cheaper. It may also be Konami being dumb. I would just be apprehensive of judging Konami financial well-being based on this loan.

[Chacranajxy]

If this is where the majority of the unlicensed use comes from, its not so black and white. Did Kanye have to get the license when he sampled the song? If not, then they barely have a case. although if they didn't license the kanye song...

Yeah, Kanye had to get a license. You can't sample anything without getting permission first, no matter how minor the use of a sample is or even if you alter the pitch, tempo, etc.

[ascii42]

Yeah, Kanye had to get a license. You can't sample anything without getting permission first, no matter how minor the use of a sample is or even if you alter the pitch, tempo, etc.

Vanilla Ice found that out the hard way, even though the original went ding ding ding dinga ding dum...ding ding ding dinga ding dum, and his was clearly ding ding ding dinga ding dum *chick* DING ding ding ding dinga ding dum.

[Alcool313]

You'd be surprised with how much thievery record labels try (and do) to get away with. I did some minor (very minor) record label consulting and it was rampant. Also sample clearing comes through at the end of the album production process. That is the real reason why many albums are delayed, since older samples are very difficult to clear and often require for a track to be changed.

The EMI lawsuit it sounds like they are arguing that although the original songs do contain legally cleared samples, that they never included the right for them to be a part of the videogame in those deals. I don't think that it was negligence or greed from Konami, but more a very complicated copyright system for music compounded by Videogame licensing difficulties.

[udivision]

Vanilla Ice found that out the hard way, even though the original went ding ding ding dinga ding dum...ding ding ding dinga ding dum, and his was clearly ding ding ding dinga ding dum *chick* DING ding ding ding dinga ding dum.

I can't believe I know exactly what you're talking about.
No seriously, why have I seen the clip of him explaining that...

[Ermac]

I can't believe I know exactly what you're talking about. No seriously, why have I seen the clip of him explaining that...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JippcFJsSFw

"It's not the same." *shrug*

[a Master Ninja]

Should have marketed the shit out of it.

You win the thread.