Dead Rising, Dawn of the Dead similarities spark legal filings
by Ross Miller 
{ Feb 14th 2008 at 8:00AM }
The reason for Capcom's fair use claim reportedly comes from a draft complaint sent to the company (as well as Microsoft and Best Buy) by The MKR Group, who claim intellectual ownership of both Dawn of the Dead films. Capcom's filing notes that the company unsuccessfully tried to discuss the matter and that the game features a disclaimer that reads, "This game was not developed, approved or licensed by the owners or creators of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead."
It's time to conduct a very (ahem) scientific poll.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Geist @ Feb 14th 2008 8:13AM
I like the picture.
Also, what a retarded lawsuit. Next they'll try to copyright the idea of the dead rising from their graves. And of people battling them in any scenario.
ill trooper @ Feb 14th 2008 11:06AM
Yeah, but Dead Rising is set in a mall like the film, the zombies follow the same rules as the zombies in Romero's films, and Capcom even added that disclaimer that Romero has nothing to do with it, which is pretty much admitting they knew how close they were treading.
Close call. You see, if MKR decides to make a 'Dawn of The Dead/Day of The Dead' game, all they could do is try to make something as good as Dead Rising, and even if they were successful, the entire game community would just say 'It's the same as DEAD RISING!' and the thing could be a bust, because Dead Rising was based on the concepts in the films and already did it, thus it's damaged MKR's possibilities to make a unique game.
Dead Rising is essentially a playable version of Romero's films, and if you refuse to see it, you're just being a hater because you saw the word 'lawsuit.'
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 14th 2008 11:16AM
I've never seen the films. There is legal precedent for this kind of issue though.
White Wolf Publishing, makers of the World of Darkness tabletop roleplaying books attempted to block the release of Underworld, due to the fact that they had Vampires and Werewolves battling in a modern setting. Also the tone was very similar to what WoD sets up. Well obviously, they lost, because you can't copyright the concept of vampires and werewolves, or any general setting thereof.
I think that case could be used to get this suit thrown out. Sure, there's a movie about zombies in a mall. Was that movie about a photographer trying to get a scoop? Are any of the characters similar or the same? Is there some sort of government cover up? If the answers are no, then Dead Rising has a pretty good chance of being declared either fair use or unrelated property.
At least, thats how I see it, and I'm not a lawyer.
Mr.ESC @ Feb 14th 2008 12:07PM
Well the thing is that if you love Dead Rising you probably love zombie movies as well, so by mere logic you must love Dawn of the dead.
If a dawn of the dead game existed it would be probably crap because is would be a game based in a movie but if it was almost as good as Dead Rising hell I would buy it.
If you ask me the whole situation is ridiculous especially because we are talking about a game that was released 2 years ago unless of course Capcom is already developing the sequel :D
By the way have anyone else played Infected in the PSP?, That game was awesome I would kill for a sequel.
Geist @ Feb 14th 2008 1:46PM
This just in: Members of the Tolkien family suing everyone that's ever made a fantasy game involving elves, dwarves, humans, and hobbits in a setting with magic, magick or any derivation thereof.
andyg8180 @ Feb 14th 2008 8:34AM
mmmm dead rising 2...
well if you put it all into perspective, just the idea of killing zombies in a mall is the only thing remotely close to the movie... okay, and maybe being bunkered down in the security office... But besides that, the storylines are different... How many ripoff movies have we seen... Lets go with Jaws, and that movie with the ridiculously huge shark that swallows a boat? lmao...
but same difference... Sci-Fi channel makes rip off movies of every popular movie from jaws to aliens... You cant copyright a premise... only charachters and a storyline...
baby sea tuna @ Feb 14th 2008 8:43AM
For a second I thought you were going to dip into The Bible to back up your Jaws claim.
If there's a sequel, I hope they go with (I think it was one of the 1up guys' idea) an amusement park setting. I can't even begin to imagine how glorious that would be...
Mr.ESC @ Feb 14th 2008 12:17PM
An amusement park? Well it kind of work for “Silent hill”.
In my opinion the next setting should be Washington D.C or some other mayor world capital, it could be Paris.
Paris would be a good setting too. You could visit Euro Disney, that place is already crawling with zombies.
paragraph @ Feb 14th 2008 8:22AM
...
Really?
Well then i'll call MKR's shenanigans, on behalf of filmmakers prior to 1978 i'm suing MKR for using the term "Zombie" in conjuntion with the walking dead.
Dawn of the dead wasn't the first zombie movie, wasn't the last.
Did MKR sue the Remake? no...
Sorry, MKR's case holds as much water as a bottomless bucket... TM, C, R, BBQ 2008
Andy S. @ Feb 14th 2008 8:40AM
When the article says "both Dawn of the Dead films", I presume that they mean the original and the remake.
But the point still stands... zombie movies date back as far as 1932 (presuming that we count mummies and Frankenstein's monster merely as "reanimated dead" rather than "zombies"). Most of the movies that broke ground in the zombie movie arena are probably public domain by now, but that just makes this case more idiotic, as it should all count under "prior art". If zombies are public domain, and the concept of zombies attacking people is public domain, and the concept of people defending themselves against attacking zombies is public domain, it shouldn't matter *where* the attacking and defending happens.
Just in case, though, dibs on zombies in space, zombies underwater, and zombies vs. the Harlem Globetrotters.
LordMinogue @ Feb 14th 2008 11:45AM
Dibs on Zombies in Space!?
Careful my friend, lest Bioware sue you for stealing intellectual property from Mass Effect.
xGeneral DEATHx @ Feb 14th 2008 2:52PM
Zombies vs. Harlem Globetrotters sounds like a winner on all counts.
MariosInferno @ Feb 14th 2008 8:33AM
MKR, ftl.
LiK @ Feb 14th 2008 8:36AM
Dead Rising on ebay is gonna shoot up in price :P
zombies in a mall is copyrighted. seriously?
PrivateRyan @ Feb 14th 2008 9:27AM
It's a shame the poll options are so heavily editorialised, it would have been really interesting to see the results, especially when you consider the majority of previews essentially described it as Dawn of the Dead the game and name-checked Romero.
Jebbery @ Feb 14th 2008 11:21AM
I voted for the first one, because it was the funniest. I guess I kind of screwed up the results then, because I don't give a damn about the lawsuit or the result.
Psaakyrn @ Feb 14th 2008 9:27AM
Does anyone else get a "Donkey Kong" vibe from this case?
Zertoss @ Feb 14th 2008 10:22AM
In that MKR is fighting an uphill battle against a giant gorilla throwing barrels at them with no end in sight? Yeah, I definitely get that vibe.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 14th 2008 11:25AM
No, in that Nintendo got sued by Universal because they claimed "Donkey Kong" was infringing on "King Kong" rights, in that it was an Ape kidnapping a woman and carrying her to the top of a tower.
They lost, Nintendo won.
Zertoss @ Feb 14th 2008 11:37AM
It was a joke, Crono.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 14th 2008 11:54AM
Sorry, sarcasm detector broken. Also is somewhat obscure Nintendo history.
Nailio @ Feb 14th 2008 2:25PM
The whole reason Nintendo won was because King Kong had become public domain.
Universal Studios was just trying to bully a company trying to get its roots in America.
Also, Kirby was not named after the vaccum, but the laywer for Nintendo who brought that fact up and saved the company.
Psaakyrn @ Feb 14th 2008 7:06PM
And frankly, I thought zombies are public domain too. Or would you be attempting to contest this?
SynGamer @ Feb 14th 2008 10:34AM
Are they serious? A mall is the perfect seeing for a zombie video game...the MKR group needs to quit whining and stop these damn remakes.
Anyone see the previews for the Day of the Dead remake? HORRIBLE!
jay @ Feb 14th 2008 10:42AM
I don't think MKR owns the rights to Day of the Dead.
I watched the remake; zombies should not be able crawl on ceilings or be vegetarians....
PyrosNine @ Feb 14th 2008 5:23PM
In many ways Dead Rising was better than Dawn of the Dead, as all the characters weren't (total) jerks, the insanity of the shop owners were more brutal and in your face then when the DotD guys went loco, and the tension that zombies would break into the mall was negligible, as zombies were a constant threat inside the mall the whole time, and really more like a nuisance than an actual threat.
The secret government plot and the evil cult were elements entirely new, the sheer size of the mall was much bigger, and there was no stupid "commercialism is what's turning us into zombies" moral theme behind the plot.
John Foozmich @ Feb 14th 2008 10:28AM
Really now? Isn't this game like close to two years old? They are just now discovering this?
The makers of tennis should sue the makers of Pong.
jay @ Feb 14th 2008 10:37AM
It's sad that Romero will never make any money on his great films: Dawn and Night...
ALH @ Feb 14th 2008 10:51AM
i dont remember the movie about the photographer battling through the plague of genetically modified parasites which turn people into zombie like creatures, and deranged psychos caught up in the mess. can someone point me towards that one?
Sam @ Feb 14th 2008 11:15AM
I think Dead Rising screwed up when they put the "this is not based on a george romero film" disclamer on the game, cuz that probably spurred the whole copyright issue in the first place, and that little boo-boo might cost them the case.
DangerMouse @ Feb 14th 2008 11:19AM
Ha! Reminds me of Street Figher vs. Fighter's History. If Capcom couldn't win that one, i can't see how they can lose this one.
west @ Feb 14th 2008 11:39AM
Yeah, neither the original film nor the sequel have much in common with the game. Basically just zombies, mall, security room. If its possible to sue for having three copied elements from a movie, almost every piece of entertainment could be sued by someone else.
Ancient Greece should file a class action suit against God of War, the real life should sue Second Life, and strippers should sue and video game with a female protagonist. Any more?
CharleyTony @ Feb 14th 2008 12:22PM
this is almost, ALMOST ! dummer than when Paris Hilton said she wanted to patent the phrase "That's hot!"...Hey MKR Group ! whereever you are ! Let go of this crap and go and make a good zombie movie instead !
I want to second the motion for "Zombies In Space !" or ZIS! as we afficinados call it. LOL
Did you guys hear about the zombie flick Max Brooks (Zombie Survival Guide) is making ... its gonna be about a zombie world war or something like that ,, awesome !!!
Geist @ Feb 14th 2008 1:48PM
World War Z, and it's already been written. I'm staring at a copy of it on my desk right now. Pretty damn dark writing, but quite well-done.
Ghostbuddy @ Feb 14th 2008 1:30PM
"the zombies follow the same rules as the zombies in Romero's films" -ill trooper
SPOILERS!!!
You obviously don't know what your talking about. The Zombies in Romeros movies are undead rotten corpses coming back to life without a explanation. In Dead Rising the Zombies are caused by mutated wasps created by the U.S goverment as a weapon. A foreign man name carlito unleashs the parasite in a small town in the U.S to get even with the goverment. Because his home town was ravaged by the parasite and his parents were killed. The only similiarity is they are in a mall, and the zombies are slow. The slow zombies come from many different sources. Before and after Romero. The only similarity is Zombies in a mall. This lawsuit isn't justified. If you think it is, you don't know what your talking about.
ill trooper @ Feb 14th 2008 2:37PM
Fair enough, but I wasn't really talking about the origin of the zombies, I simply meant the rules of 1) wanting to eat the protagonist, and 2) how they trudge forward slowly in an undead manner.
And I think you're being selective in what you call 'similar': there are many similarities in the two worlds. (You have two 'only similarities' in your argument, by the way, so somewhere in your subconscious you know there's more than 'a mall' making these entities similar).
Clincher for me was the mention of George Romero in the opening sequence to the game: that's enough to tell us that Capcom knew they were close enough to warrant reminding people that they aren't experiencing anything related to the movies.
On a side note, it's interesting to see people quick to dispel Dead Rising's similarities with 'Dawn of the Dead', et al, but remembering how people went totally 'judge and jury' and deemed Sony's Sixaxis as a rip- off Nintendo's Wii controller, something NOT even as related as this situation. Seems like sometimes people are really quick to give what they like and enjoy the benefit of the doubt, but anything else is a 'retarded lawsuit,' 'total rip-off,' etc. Just a thought.
rikimaru @ Feb 14th 2008 2:09PM
This is happening now? I thought Dead Rising was around long enough that they were OK with it. Why legal flack now? Also, if they actually played the game they'd see that the similarities include zombies, a mall, a black bald man. Other then that, it's totally different. Sure, you could see how some elements could be inspired by the movie, but if it was illegal to be inspired by another IP, then wouldn't all movie and game creators be suing each other constantly?
mattclarkie @ Feb 14th 2008 2:11PM
I would like to vote for all 3 of those options.
GreyFox @ Feb 14th 2008 2:58PM
Someone say Dead Rising 2?!
TheorySam @ Feb 14th 2008 3:57PM
IP scholar weighing in here:
Under U.S. Copyright law, works of authorship are protected in their totality, meaning that it's an infringement to, for example, make a game that follows the story of Dawn of the Dead without a license from the rightsholder.
It has been well-settled in U.S. case law since the 1920's that a work employing scene-a-faire (common story or setting elements, in this case, the walking dead and a shopping mall) that have been used in another work is not an infringement; otherwise George Lucas could have been sued by effectively the entire world (including the recently litigious Tolkien estate) for Star Wars.
Capcom's attempt to disclaim any resemblance between their game and Romero's film is not an admission of guilt per se, but a savvy preemptive positioning move, much like the declaratory judgment action that sparked this article.
ThornedVenom @ Feb 14th 2008 7:07PM
BULLSHIT
Rich @ Feb 15th 2008 1:03PM
They are just filing a court case against this game now? This game came out what like last year or the year before and they are just figuring out that this is like Dawn Of The Dead? That's total crap(I would use other words but due to terms and agreements on the site I can't)! Besides Dawn of the Dead sucked anyway, The remake was pretty decent but not great. This game was awesome and Dawn of the Dead creator's should be happy that kids can now go and get their crappy movie from the video store and say "Wow I can't believe I spent like $5.00 to watch this!".
rick @ Feb 20th 2008 11:43AM
Please keep in mind that Romero himself has little or no say in MKR. The lawsuit is most likely being spearheaded by Richard Rubenstein, the money grubbing scumbag producer of many of romero's films. This guy is such a jerk that years ago when the web took off he fired off cease and desist letters to all fan sites devoted to Dawn demanding payment or removal of all images from the film. C'mon people...this was YEARS ago...a time hen Dawn was still a dusty video on the shlves of mom and pop video stores. When there is no more room in hell scumbag producer will walk the earth.
Damien @ Feb 15th 2008 5:27PM
FFS. I can see it now if this lawsuit wins. Next up - Peter Jackson sues Blizzard for using Elves in World of Warcraft.
After that, Hollywood sues Life for imitating Art.
Get over yourself Romero. There's no such thing as an original idea anymore. Why not sue the makers of 28 Days Later? Or Half-Life 2? Or anyone, anywhere, that's ever used the word zombie?
Thork @ Feb 16th 2008 8:49PM
To Everyone saying that Capcom faulted by voluntarily putting a disclaimer on the cover, there's something you should know.
MKR threatened legal action before the release of the game, Capcom added the disclaimer to the boxart, and MKR did not actually file charges then.