So yesterday we reported on the fact that former relevant music act No Doubt was suing Activision over the use of their likenesses in the game Band Hero, which has been out for only a week or so. The specific complaint was that the band’s avatars were able to sing songs that weren’t from the band, although the imagery of Gwen Stefani with Mick Jagger’s voice singing about thai whores is a hilarious thought.

And a musical improvement.

The lawsuit demanded that Activision pay them an unspecified sum of money, a stoppage of all current Band Hero sales and a complete recall of copies sold to date. As someone who still owns a release-day version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, I can assure you that game recalls never, ever work.

We (and by “we”, I mean Game Informer — strange how that works) now have an official statement from Activision, which reads like a very “legalese” way of saying “I’ll match your lawsuit and raise you one ‘contractual obligation’, bitch!”

Some of the world’s most popular and iconic artists have been featured in Guitar Hero as playable characters, and we are proud to count No Doubt among them. Activision has a written agreement to use No Doubt in Band Hero – an agreement signed by No Doubt after extensive negotiations with its representatives, who collectively have decades of experience in the entertainment industry. Pursuant to that agreement, Activision worked with No Doubt and the band’s management in developing Band Hero. As a result, Activision believes it is within its legal rights with respect to the use and portrayal of the band members in the game and that this lawsuit is without merit. Activision is exploring its own legal options with respect to No Doubt’s obligations under the agreement.

This is starting to sound a whole hell of a lot like the Courtney Love fiasco a few months back and leads into another issue of bands not actually reading the contracts they sign and then acting shocked — SHOCKED, I tells ya — when the companies act within their contractual rights.

I don’t often side with Activision, but in this case… No Doubt’s management fucked up. Plain and simple.

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