Gibson Guitar Hero suit thrown out

OK, let me get this straight: first they agree to let Activision make Gibson-based controllers and then they sue them because of this?!!!

"Wait, Gibson threatened to sue EA and MTV for the Rock Band guitar, which is based on a Fender Stratocaster, a guitar that they didn't make? They've got their heads so far up their own arse." No, they were getting huffy about Guitar Hero guitars, NOT rockband's, guitar hero ones are based on Gibson models. Please read the article first before posting, thanks

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@Jettero-Heller Very true,. I've played for ten years and worked at a music store for four of them. Gibson, Martin, Fender, Taylor, they are all called over rated by beginners that can't appreciate their quality or people that can't afford them. Unfortunately many great guitar makers also began slapping their names on cheap over sees and Mexican made guitars too maximize profits and many younger players CAN afford this level. After buying based on the name alone they think that all the companies axes are no good because they got scammed into buying a 250 dollar foreign made knock off. Even Gibson's less expensive american made can be vastly inferior(case by case basis). There is a reason a 1000 dollar studio costs up to half the price of a standard les paul or Fender's highway one guitars cost a third of the price of their American standards. @judge__judy It sounds like you have a nice axe, Ibanez can make some nice stuff. But you also coming off like a hater trying to justify your purchases superiority.

I'm still waiting for case against Activision to go through, they stole my idea for a World War game!!

gibsons are pretty decent they just feel like holding onto a tank with strings. can get a nice warm sound with em but all the ones i have seen i dont care for the mechanics of them. usually its a 3some. me, ibanez and fender. with my harem of guitars its kind of odd i didnt pick up a gibson. just not my type i guess.. i dont like the big girls. i dont do thick crust.

That's the problem with most patents anyway, they're loosely worded and people always try to push their bs. Glad for the outcome.

Great example of *Greed.

Sorry to post again but I want to Clarify Gibsons quality, not thier court exploits. They are the kings of musical lawsuits dating back to the 70's & possible before. LOLZ at Ibanez having higher manufacturing costs than Gibby. LOLZZ I say.

Unfortunately I have to agree with emacdaddy08 on this one. I am turning 43 in two weeks, and have been playing since I was twelve. Do the math. Outside of a 7 year hiatus I have been playing proffesionally for most of those years. I too used to agree with many of the posts here. That is until I started earning and able to afford Gibsons for myself. No guitar on the planet matches it. People who share Judge Judy's oppinions usually are newer players with less experience. I can't count how many times I've seen someone bring a copy or "other" brand to gigs and constantly have to defend their choice with the ever-popular "bbbbut it's just as good as a Gibson." I'm sorry. It isn't. To say Gibsons "are not high end" is sheer ignorance. Necks regularly break on ANY brand usually due to idiotas dropping them. Not poor design. I've taken enough space. BTW the Gibby suit against PRS was indeed thrown out.

Man people are doing anything for money nowadays.

@emacdaddy08: Gibson guitars are not really high end guitars. For the price you pay for a gibson you could be getting flawless custom guitars. Gibsons are very simple guitars and do not cost very much to make. A few slabs of decent mahogany, average hardware and pickups and a set neck which is really cheap to put together. They have a good tone though, but bad fret access about the 15th, fat necks, and are far too heavy. Gibsons also have the worse reliabilty of any guitars. Their necks regularly break due to a bad design. I don't understand while everyone sucks up to gibson so much. So what if Jimi Page used them, if slash never used les pauls they might not even be popular today. I do love fenders though even though they are a bit overpriced. My guitar is a mahogany bodied ibanez prestige with a top edge tremolo, piezo and dimarzios. It cost me half the price of a gibson and surely would have been more expensive to produce

Dean>Gibson

Gibson makes good guitars, I personally own a les paul studio and love it. But they're jerks when it comes to these things. I remember a few years ago they tried suing PRS guitars over their Tremonti guitar model which looked similar to the Les Paul. I don't think you should be able to copyright a shape. I think that got thrown out too. Gibson needs to calm down and stop getting its panties in a wad over little insignificant things.

Good to hear. I like Gibson guitars but this was ridiculous.

Why would they go after Rock Band? They used Fender, Jackson, and Gretsch in it. At least it's thrown out.

@Judge_Judy, being someone who has played, owned, and currently loves his gibson explorer i disagree with you, gibson (next to fender) makes the best guitars available, slick fret action, smooth tone, and awesome reliability. don't dis something because it's expensive, high quality comes at a high price these days.

Last March? That really shows how efficient our court system is.

nice call!

what idiots, for every copy of guitar hero they had their name on, they got money, now gh ditched the brand, so they get squat

Good. Gibson is the s***est company ever. They over price their guitars a grand or 2 and people actually buy them? I really don't get it

Gibson: Good guitars, awful administration. Its seems like they were just trying to get some extra (world wide) publicity

There should be severe penalties (I'd say at least a few hundred grand or even a million dollars) if a plaintiff loses a patent lawsuit. It's a hefty fine, so it'll make sure that people don't just file random patent-infringement suits to attempt a quick buck. It'll be the whole you'd-better-make-sure-you-know-for-sure-that-they're-actually-violating-your-patent thought.

cheat commandos..... ROCK ROCK ON!!! (raise fist)

gibson sued them because they were going to stop exclusively using their guitars... it's really pretty scummy, actually.

Good ruling

it was my understanding that Gibson's patent covered video games too. but, realistically, they shouldn't have licensed their guitars if they cared about the patent.

wat people will do 2make sum quick cash.. SAD:(

Stupid Gibson, its not like thier profiting from using a gibson-esque controller

Moppyp Posted Mar 2, 2009 7:53 pm PT Umm.. wat!!? I dunt understand? well what they are saying is someone made a suit out of guitar hero controllers and gibson was all "oh sweet lets get in on that" and they tried to sue him for his suit but the guy threw it out before they could take it because in the wrong hands a suit like that is dangerous.

good stuff! that lawsuit was trash, and they knew it.

oh man, i guess i should go to court for my patent # 5,990,406. Which INCLUDES "technology for simulating a musical performance in a video-game."

Umm.. wat!!? I dunt understand?

Hahaha that was ludicrous

justinge3 u were the biggest loser on youtube ever i no it was a joke but it wasnt funni at all

Good thing the Judge was a Guitar Hero fan, lol Either that or he/she had kids who would have made their home life a living hell.

Good! This just proves that lawsuits like this are stupid.

I don't really like Guitar Hero (Rock Band fan), but I have to agree, that's a stupid lawsuit. That's like that Japanese game developer who tried to claim patentcy on the genre (forgive me for forgetting the exact details)

that law suit was just plan silly.

Good I thought that law suit was just plan silly.

AZisBack :"Good ruling on a frivolous lawsuit. Used to like Gibson but I lost a lot of respect for them because of the lawsuit." You shouldn't lose faith because of corporate a holes with nothing better to do with their time, but look only if the quality of the instrument suffers because of this.

X-PLORER GH2 guitar controller 4 ever

AZisBack I agree I love their guitars but this was ridiculous and sad.

Good ruling on a frivolous lawsuit. Used to like Gibson but I lost a lot of respect for them because of the lawsuit.

Glad to hear that someone isn't getting money they don't deserve. They just want all the money Guitar Hero made.

useless news

cheese4927, that's heroine, actually. And yes, I like the way Guitar Hero is protected! :)

It was a stupid lawsuit to begin with. Judge Pfaelzer is my new hero :D

It was only a matter of time.

twas' 1959 let there be light sooouuund droouuums GUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITAR!