GTA: Vice City Removed from Steam Over Music Licensing

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army_ant7

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I'm wondering why didn't Rockstar get the license for the song? I bet their legal department must've known that they had to get a license for that song. Maybe something just happened when they were making the game, the memo to do so was lost. That or they were really trying to get a "free ride" (I hope this isn't the case. I'm thinking now that instead of removing the song altogether (which they can't on copies already sold), they'd just have to properly buy a license.
 

army_ant7

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[citation][nom]abbadon_34[/nom]Greddy bastards ! Have you heard of public domian ???[/citation]Sorry to say, but for a copyright for songs and movies (at least) to expire, it takes 75 years IIRC. MJ wasn't even born yet in the year 1937.
 
75 years?! That assures 100% that if you like a music, you wont get it for free in your lifetime (assuming it was released when you were young).

Humans are awsome, thx got im a cat.. shit, now everybody knows.

On anothe side, they didnt have a problem with it before when i came on th PC? Or did they just catch up now with the problem?
 

DSpider

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Sony is piggybacking on a dead singers' music. Now that's just low...

MJ died 3 years ago and they're still racking in the dough after his demise. Same thing with Whitney Houston or even Elvis. Wtf is wrong with the music industry?
 

LachlanT

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It's odd that only Wanna be startin' something is what Sony is against when Billie Jean is in Vice City too.
 

randomizer

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[citation][nom]amk-aka-Phantom[/nom]Scumbag "Sony Music Entertainment": game's out for 10 years, decides to take action only now.[/citation]

Patent and copyright infringement notices are best served cold. Better ROI that way.
 

neiroatopelcc

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but why now? I've had the game on steam for a few years - with music.

tip though - the steam version didn't work when I bought it - you had to download some files to your documents folder on the harddrive and use a cracked exe back then. So maybe it's a good thing it's gone.
 

demonhorde665

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[citation][nom]army_ant7[/nom]I'm wondering why didn't Rockstar get the license for the song? I bet their legal department must've known that they had to get a license for that song. Maybe something just happened when they were making the game, the memo to do so was lost. That or they were really trying to get a "free ride" (I hope this isn't the case. I'm thinking now that instead of removing the song altogether (which they can't on copies already sold), they'd just have to properly buy a license.[/citation]


actually when they were making the game they did have the license to use the song . they didn't have the license for re-releaseing the song at a later date which is the case on the digital steam version. This same issue affects movies and tv shows . bassically it's the music industry being greedy .

Beavis and butt head when put on dvd had all the video sections cut out because mtv didn't have the licenses to release dvd's of those videos , however they did have the licenses to air them originally back in the 90's.

Return of the living dead (one of my all time favorite movies) got yanked from dvd release after 2003 becasue of dvd release licensing issues , it was later released with alternate tracks in 2007-8. I fortunately got a copy of the 1999 dvd release version with the original music.

just two examples of this "later release" licenseing. basically the music industry likes to count dvd or later re-releases as a seperate license. I actually saw this problem arisng years ago when i first played GTA vice city. Just pick any 5 songs off the game and i bet you all 5 have copyrights owned by different labels . each label of which may or may not choose to be d--ks about the game getting re-released with those tracks in it .
 

pyster

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This same licensing issue can be seen with Married With Children and streaming on netflix.

I am wondering what will happen to those who have already purchased it. Will they still be able to install it? Will steam's authentication allow it to be played? I originally pirated it, but bought it on steam as part of a collection. It would be Ironic if the record industry screwed me out of it.
 
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@nforce4max: "This is why I don't use steam".

You dont use steam because the RIAA are a bunch of greedy fucks trying to block content over asinine and mundane rules they created themselves? How about you dont use the RIAA or their "product", since that is the problem, not steam.
 

pyster

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[citation][nom]lolnforce[/nom]@nforce4max: "This is why I don't use steam".You dont use steam because the RIAA are a bunch of greedy fucks trying to block content over asinine and mundane rules they created themselves? How about you dont use the RIAA or their "product", since that is the problem, not steam.[/citation]

dont feed the troll...

but steam has its own drm-issues. I love steam but can see why others who take a harder line might not.
 
[citation][nom]cats_paw[/nom]75 years?! That assures 100% that if you like a music, you wont get it for free in your lifetime (assuming it was released when you were young).Humans are awsome, thx got im a cat.. shit, now everybody knows.On anothe side, they didnt have a problem with it before when i came on th PC? Or did they just catch up now with the problem?[/citation]

The time keep increasing. It is no longer 75 years. Now it is 70 years after the death of the author. For corporate owned works it is 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from date of creation. Since MJ's music was under a label it could be either case which would be about the same amount of time for his good stuff.

It will remain this way until Mickey Mouse reaches 95. In which case Disney will get labels together for a big lobbying push and get the years extended. Politicians will go for it because they get all sorts of perks without costing them any votes. Since virtually no one could give a rats ass if the copyright length is increased.
 

chicofehr

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Why can't game makers just make their own music? There are lots of indie music artists that will do it for a reasonable price or they could hire their own music writer and copyright it then pay someone with a good voice to sing it. They don't need to get the top 10 song list to get people to buy the game. I for one thing own about 70% indie music and the rest for big names.
 

army_ant7

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[citation][nom]demonhorde665[/nom]actually when they were making the game they did have the license to use the song . they didn't have the license for re-releaseing the song at a later date which is the case on the digital steam version.

each label of which may or may not choose to be d--ks about the game getting re-released with those tracks in it .[/citation]Very interesting info and I thank you for sharing it. :) They must've gotten quite the discount on that license then.

I don't mean to sound like the bad guy, but if it was explicitly mentioned on the contract/license and they didn't just find some kind of legal loophole to charge them, then I wouldn't think it's greedy. I mean, if Rockstar only paid so much for a license that's limited in that way, then don't you think it's only right for SME to "remind" them about their part of the bargain?

[citation][nom]DSpider[/nom]Sony is piggybacking on a dead singers' music. Now that's just low...MJ died 3 years ago and they're still racking in the dough after his demise. Same thing with Whitney Houston or even Elvis. Wtf is wrong with the music industry?[/citation]I believe that music publishers just pay the talent and have all the rights to the content. Think of how a person having a house made by contractors. The person pays them to build his/her house, but afterwards, the person owns the house, not the contractors.

Again, I don't mean to sound like an evil lawyer and stuff, but I just don't want to unfairly look at this issue. I enjoyed Vice City, but I just want justice to prevail. Some of you may talk as if it's wrong or unfair, but when you were in the position of SME, you may know how it would feel like.
 
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