Capcom sued over Dead Rising

by Justin McElroy { Feb 26th 2008 at 12:55PM }

We heard the rumblings of this coming earlier this month, but now it seems like it's official: MKR Group, which owns the rights to George Romero's Dawn of the Dead, has sued Capcom for similarities between the zombie flick and Capcom's Dead Rising, both of which feature zombies in a shopping mall. In part, the suit states, "In both, the recreational activities of the zombies and absurdly grotesque 'kill scenes' provide unexpected comedic relief."

Personally, we think this whole thing is a little silly. Zombies in a shopping mall are like polar bears on South Pacific islands or cheetahs in Ludwig's den. It's their natural habitat, what do you want them to do, make an unrealistic zombie game?

Tags: capcom, dead-rising, deadrising, george-romero, mkr-group

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Cyantre @ Feb 26th 2008 12:59PM

Before this there was an episode of an Invader ZIM with zombies in a mall. I mean if you can't put zombies in a mall, where can you put them?

Lijik @ Feb 26th 2008 2:39PM

The best part about that episode was not only were there zombies in a mall, the zombies were the mall's top line of defense.

FOXHOUND @ Feb 26th 2008 1:03PM

Won't someone think of the zombies? A brain is a terrible thing to waste, and well... the mall is full of unused minds. ;_;

Marty @ Feb 26th 2008 1:04PM

If it was really an issue, why didn't they sue before the game was a huge success? I mean, it's been out for years now.

xeleion @ Feb 26th 2008 1:50PM

Exactly. I think someone just wants some money or attention.

upz @ Feb 26th 2008 7:34PM

Umm...that's kind of the idea. You sue to get paid for YOUR right to some of that money somebody else made with YOUR idea. I'm not saying the lawsuit isn't frivolous, just illustrating that the only reason to sue for infringement of your intellectual property is if your intellectual property is actually worth something.

Nigeria @ Feb 26th 2008 1:05PM

You're right, shopping malls are a Zombie's habitat.

I Eat Robots @ Feb 26th 2008 1:06PM

The MKR Group is demonstrating a fundamental lack of knowledge of the basics of copyright law. Perhaps they're feebly hoping for a settlement, but this suit will be dismissed long before it goes anywhere.

carg0 @ Feb 26th 2008 1:11PM

this explains why Capcom has been so hesitant on a sequel. at least we finally have an explanation. i just hope the rumors about an outsourced (non-Capcom developed) sequel aren't true.

StrangeBum @ Feb 26th 2008 2:04PM

They can still release a sequel easily enough, they will just have to bend to these MKR effers and not have the second game's location be a mall.

Perhaps the open streets of London....but then some other zombie-survival type movie people will be mad.

Or maybe the setting could be in a small rural town...a hotel....graveyar-.....fuck

DemonGSides @ Feb 26th 2008 2:14PM

Hahaha, Bum, that was an awesome comment.

And I agree; an outside game set in London would be fun.

But dibs on the cricket bat.

Zoot Suit Jedi @ Feb 26th 2008 3:16PM

I will use my batman soundtrack vinyl.

aristokrat @ Feb 26th 2008 3:17PM

In all fairness, the first thing I thought when playing the demo was "Hey, this is like a video game of 'Dawn of the Dead'," and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought that. Confusion like that is exactly what copyright law is meant to protect, as Dead Rising might have hurt MKR's future video game licensing rights by cramping on their idea. Not saying I'm happy with the lawsuit, but I wasn't at all surprised when I heard about, which is probably a bad sign for Capcom.

Christian @ Feb 26th 2008 1:11PM

Ugh, another silly copyright lawsuit. When will these companies realize that copyright is not meant to protect general ideas or story elements. Copyright is essentially meant to avoid direct copying, and unless the thing you feel is copying you can actually be said to be easily confused with the real thing you most likely have no case (and neither should you).

Reminds a bit of the lawsuit against Dan Brown for the DaVinci Code, which apart from being a crap book with a weak plot on its own, was claimed to have stolen storyline ideas and character templates from another book. One example I read was how there was a bottle of Perrier sparking water on a table in a hotel room in France in both books. Yes, like non-French authors probably even know any other brands of French sparkling water. And as for theft of characters, well both books characters where stereotype main characters. Like youngish middle aged caucasian men, with an adventurous streak and a way with the ladies. Hmm, where have I seen that character before, apart from a billion movies and books, Indiana Jones being a very good example.

Phranctoast @ Feb 26th 2008 1:21PM

I keep forgetting how cool it is to rip on things that are popular. Thanks for the reminder.

aristokrat @ Feb 26th 2008 3:18PM

That's because a lot of popular things are in fact truly dumb.

baby sea tuna @ Feb 26th 2008 1:17PM

Sigh. That sound you're hearing right now is the sound of a million eyes rolling...

Organic_Shadow @ Feb 26th 2008 1:54PM

Eww that's kinda gross. That weird liquidy clicking noise? Eughh...

StrangeBum @ Feb 26th 2008 2:26PM

I can't decide who's comment was better here.

I think I will stick with baby sea tuna, just because I don't want to actually hear the liquidy-clickity noise now.

Benor @ Feb 26th 2008 1:17PM

I find it funny that the comment at the end, about how malls are a zombie's natural habitat, supports MKR's assertion. After all, I don't think there was a "zombies in the mall" movie before Dawn of the Dead...

Not that I support the suit itself.

paragraph @ Feb 26th 2008 1:30PM

True, but before that time Malls weren't really there. The time that the movie was made was about the time that malls became the social scene. That is what made it a good movie.

But, as I've said before, Dawn of the Dead isn't the first zombie movie, therefore they should be held just as accountable for stealing the idea of undead beings.

:\

Lets hope this doesn't get out of hand...

Onomah @ Feb 26th 2008 1:18PM

This is ridiculous and retarded. It's retardulous.
Hey maybe Sam Raimi should sue on the grounds that both this and Evil Dead have zombies and contain copious amounts of awesome.
Better yet, maybe the United Voodoo Sorcerer trust (UVS) should sue because it contains zombies which are in a place.
Or the dead shall rise up for portraying them in a negative light

I could go on and on, but it's probably better I stop here.

ThornedVenom (Patapornographer) @ Feb 26th 2008 1:27PM

+1 for the neologism

Ross Miller @ Feb 26th 2008 2:01PM

+1 for USING the term 'neologism'

Tiptup300 @ Mar 10th 2008 8:35PM

+3 for letting me learn what "neologism" is, which is almost ironic.

aaron_k7 @ Feb 26th 2008 1:19PM

The Tolkien family needs to sue the company who made LAIR. I mean please...dragons that can fly and breathe fire, what a blatant ripoff.

Pointz @ Feb 26th 2008 1:21PM

Romero's probably broke and needs money to fund his next masterpiece Rising Dead.

baby sea tuna @ Feb 26th 2008 1:27PM

Lawl, "Masterpiece"

Yeef @ Feb 26th 2008 2:00PM

Romero's not the one filing the law suit. As in most commercial industries, he didn't retain the rights to his films. MKR, the people who hold the copywright to Dawn of the Dead, are the ones filing the lawsuit.

I think it's also pertinent to point out that the original Night of the Living Dead is in the public domain, so at the very least the Romero model of zombie is free to exploit however anyone may wish. SO that takes the 'zombie' part out of 'zombies in a mall'. I guess the MKR group thinks they hold copywright on malls.

As for the actual story of the games and the movies, there are a few similarities between the original dawn of the dead and dead rising (fly in on a chopper, one of the major characters is a reporter, take the vents to get to the safe room), but they are minor at best. Comparing it to the remake gets rid of those similarities completely.

NATO_Duke @ Feb 26th 2008 1:25PM

What a lame suit. I have yet to see a mall without zombies all over the place.

Usually they're walking around following the jog mile markers or hanging out at bed bath & beyond though.

xeleion @ Feb 26th 2008 1:53PM

I want to go to the malls you go to.

NATO_Duke @ Feb 26th 2008 3:47PM

Come to Illinois - where all of the malls flow to the brim with Zombie housewives.

Todd @ Feb 26th 2008 1:25PM

No way this will hold water. First off, the game involves a single photographer... this is completely different than the movie, which involves a group of people.

Secondly, the game involves zombies completely immersed into the mall, while in the movie the mall was relatively free of zombies until the very end.

Intentless @ Feb 26th 2008 2:00PM

Just to point it out... There are many more "people" than just a lone photog...

Phranctoast @ Feb 26th 2008 1:26PM

Lawsuits. The new form of free advertising. There must be a dawn of the dead re-release on its way.

baby sea tuna @ Feb 26th 2008 1:30PM

Free? But lawsuits are *expensive*. They should just take Lindsay Bluth's advice, "It's free if you only threaten to sue!"

finnith @ Feb 26th 2008 5:47PM

Ironically I was watching that awesome show, Arrested Development when I read this.

ThornedVenom (Patapornographer) @ Feb 26th 2008 1:28PM

People abuse the law so much nowadays that now it's a pile of turd I don't even wish to wag a stick at.

maverick_saturn_626 @ Feb 26th 2008 1:34PM

Lame, game isn't all that awesome, and why they waited so long to sue is beyond all knowledge.

schuyler @ Feb 26th 2008 1:41PM

just look at real life...

Dan Davis @ Feb 26th 2008 1:52PM

"Zombies in a shopping mall are like polar bears on South Pacific islands or cheetahs in Ludwig's den."

-- or young boys at Neverland Ranch.

DemonGSides @ Feb 26th 2008 2:23PM

or young boys in Ludwig's Den?

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 26th 2008 2:53PM

LDF, ASSEMBLE!!!

Jim @ Feb 26th 2008 1:55PM

I'm with MKR on this one. Isn't their a disclaimer on the back of Dead Rising that says it's not inspired by Dawn Of The Dead? Capcom obviously knew they were ripping them off and tried (pathetically) to cover their asses at the 11th hour.

Of course I might be a little bit more forgiving if I would have been able to play Dead Rising on my TV. Think of this as karma for all of us who bought the game and don't have HDTV yet.

Intentless @ Feb 26th 2008 2:09PM

Yes because no book, video game, or movie/tv show doesn't have any disclaimer stating it isn't related to anything else prior.

Their lawyers arn't idiots not that you have to be an idiot to draw some kind of relevance between the two.

Its like saying you can't have a mummy in a tomb or a creature in a cave.

Yes Dawn of the Dead may have established the aspect of zombies in a mall. But it was adding to the more modern aspect of the myth.

rodsky @ Feb 26th 2008 1:56PM

well duh Romero is a sellout, look at the crap hes unloaded on us lately, douche needs to just croak and turn into a zombie

Konchu @ Feb 26th 2008 1:57PM

Well this is really quite silly. There are going to be similarities drawn but I don't think enough to warrant a lawsuit. Dead Rising has its own storyline that I feel separates it. There are going to be comparisons drawn I understand cause Romero's movie was out first and I will be fair and say his movie probably paid a part in inspiring the game. But how many Dracula movies have we had that pay tribute to the original. How may shootem up movies or Martial Arts movies do things other movies have. The bottom line is this if they didn't copy the exact Story or directly lift the characters or maybe the exact location then I think they are being a bunch of greedy asses.