Def Jam Rapstar

[GamerMan316]

EMI Suing Def Jam Rapstar Devs Over Song Rights

The makers of Def Jam Rapstar are being sued by EMI for allegedly failing to clear the rights to the tracks featured in the game.

Record label EMI wants $150,000 in damages for every song in the game. They reckon there’s 54 unlicensed tracks, meaning developers 4mm Games and Terminal Reality may have to pay out more than $8 million.

It gets worse too. On top of the $150,000 per track, EMI want a cut of the game’s profits too. Furthermore, the record company says that it own the rights to distribute, display and publicly perform its tracks - all of which have been infringed due to the nature of Def Jam Rapstar’s gameplay. That could mean further claims for damages.

EMI reckons that it notified the developers about the issue, but was ignored.

[nCogNeato]

How do you make a licensed game without having the license?  I'm not a lawyer or game publisher, but I'm pretty sure that's like one of the first steps.

Who greenlit this game?  Suge Knight?