Dead Rising Taken to Court

February 26th, 2008, 20:25 Posted By: Shrygue

via IGN


MKR Group, holder of the rights to George A. Romero's horror classic Dawn of the Dead, has filed a lawsuit against Capcom over similarities between the 1979 film and the Japanese publisher's 2006 Xbox 360 game Dead Rising.

Capcom had preemptively filed a case against MKR earlier this month, which sought to declare that its game did not impede the intellectual property rights of MKR. This action has not dissuaded MKR from pursuing action against Capcom, who yesterday filed a complaint to the US District Court in New York highlighting the similarities between the film and the game, stating that, "Both works are dark comedies. Both works provided thoughtful social commentary on the 'mall culture' zeitgeist, in addition to serving up a sizable portion of sensationalistic violence."

In the unlikely event that the case is successful, it could set a worrying precedent for the videogame industry. Although the similarities between Dead Rising and Dawn of the Dead are pronounced, the game was an affectionate homage to the iconic film rather than a retread of the original. Capcom is currently unable to comment on the filing.

If Capcom is found guilty of impeding MKR's intellectual rights, what other games could find themselves in the dock over leaning on their cinematic influences a little too heavily? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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