Capcom Victorious In Dead Rising Lawsuit

Last February, a film production company owning the rights to the Dawn of the Dead film, filed a lawsuit against Capcom alleging that their game Dead Rising was an unauthorized remake of the film. Capcom has finally won the lawsuit, though it took a lot longer than common sense would've dictated.

MKR's lawsuit could be summarized thusly:" Dawn of the Dead was about a group of survivors fending off a horde of zombies inside a shopping mall. Dead Rising was about a group of survivors fending off a horde of zombies inside a shopping mall. Give us all Capcom's money." Capcom's motion to have the lawsuit dismissed pointed out that "The few similarities MKR has alleged are driven by the wholly unprotectable concept of humans battling zombies in a mall during a zombie outbreak."

Was the game inspired by the film? Almost certainly. But you can't copyright a general situation and you're not entitled to money because your work inspired a creative work with only general similarities to your own. Capcom even put a disclaimer on the Dead Rising box stating, "This game was not developed, approved or licensed by the owners or creators of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead."

Thankfully, the judge agreed with Capcom and the lawsuit is kaput. "The social commentary MKR draws from Dawn of the Dead ... appears totally absent from the combat focus found in Dead Rising," he wrote in his ruling (via Shacknews). Great news, considering a successful lawsuit could've effed up Capcom's plans for Dead Rising 2.