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Producer, game firm in rights battle over zombies

Tue Feb 26, 4:18 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An independent movie producer withrights to the horror movie "George A. Romero's Dawn of theDead" sued video game maker Capcom Co Ltd on Monday in thelatest salvo in a copyright dispute. ADVERTISEMENT

The producer, MKR Group, alleged that Capcom's popular"Dead Rising" game was essentially a computer game version ofits "Dawn of the Dead" movies.

Earlier this month, Capcom filed a case against MKR in aCalifornia federal court, seeking a declaration that the gamedid not infringe on MKR's intellectual property rights. It alsosought an injunction to prevent MKR from suing the company.

New York-based MKR said it filed its complaint after talkswith Capcom over the dispute failed.

"Both works are dark comedies," the complaint filed in U.S.District Court in New York on Monday reads. "In both, therecreational activities of the zombies and absurdly grotesque'kill scenes' provide unexpected comedic relief."

"Both works provided thoughtful social commentary on the'mall culture' zeitgeist, in addition to serving up a sizableportion of sensationalistic violence," it said.

A spokesman for Capcom, Chris Kramer, declined to commenton the lawsuit.

Richard Rubinstein, who produced the 1979 horror film andwas a senior producer of a 2004 remake, is the principalshareholder and president of the MKR Group, according to MKR'scomplaint.

MKR sued the Japanese company and two U.S. units forcopyright and trademark infringement and other claims.

Capcom's "Dead Rising" game was released in August 2006 forMicrosoft Corp's XBox 360 and had shipped more than a millionunits by the end of 2006. The title is no longer beingproduced, Kramer said.

Reuters