Capcom wins: Dead Rising lawsuit dropped; gets unexpected game review from Judge

Posted Nov 22, 2008 at 3:21AM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: Wii, Xbox 360 Tags: Capcom, George A. Romero, LittleBigPlanet

Earlier this year, Capcom was sued by the MKR Group, the firm handling George A. Romero's zombie films. The lawsuit accused Dead Rising of being too similar to Dawn of the Dead. Just some of the similarities that MKR presented to the court:

Both works are set in a bi-level shopping mall.
The mall has a gun shop, in which action takes place.
The mall is located in a rural area with the National Guard patrolling its environs.
Both works are set in motion by a helicopter that takes the lead characters to a mall besieged by zombies.
Many of the zombies wear plaid shirts.
Both works feature a subtext critique of sensationalistic journalism through their use of tough, cynical journalists with short brown hair and leather jackets as a lead male character.
Both works feature the creative use of items such as propane tanks, chainsaws, and vehicles to kill zombies.
Both works are a parody of rampant consumerism.
Both works use music in the mall for comedic effect.
Dead Rising's use of the word "hell" references the tagline for Dawn of the Dead's release ("When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.").

Yes, I know. Some of these "similarities" are a bit too tenuous to draw any irrefutable evidence from, and as far as the judge is concerned, the lawsuit is now ruled to be dismissed. It actually brings to mind Sony's recent statement about similarities and coincidences in LittleBigPlanet content, but moving on...

Specifically, here's Judge Richard Seeborg's verdict:

[That MKR] has not identified any similarity between Dead Rising and any protected element of Dawn of the Dead. Rather, the few similarities MKR has alleged are driven by the wholly unprotectable concept of humans battling zombies in a mall during a zombie outbreak.

The key word here is "protected". And in short: the concept or plot device of zombies in a mall is not protected by copyright. In fact, as the Judge says, it's wholly unprotectable - no matter who you are or what you do. So, MKR can't sue Capcom for something that isn't protected.

Meanwhile, Capcom may have won the case, but at a rather sour note, the Judge also gave a stinging remark upon discussion of one of the similarities MKR accused of Capcom (i.e. Both works are a parody of rampant consumerism). According to the Judge:

To the extent that Dead Rising may be deemed to posses a theme, it is confined to the killing of zombies in the process of attempting to unlock the cause of the zombie infestation. The social commentary MKR draws from Dawn of the Dead, in other words, appears totally absent from the combat focus found in Dead Rising.

Oh. Judges are giving game reviews now?

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Capcom wins: Dead Rising lawsuit dropped; gets unexpected game review from Judge

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