A California Court of Appeals has okayed No Doubt's lawsuit against ROCK BAND publisher Activision Blizzard, writes The Hollywood Reporter. The band claims the game violates their publicity rights and breached their contract with the company. The band disapproved of gamers being able to unlock special features, which allows them to make band members' avatars sing unapproved songs in different voices, while dancing in unrealistic ways.

Activision Blizzard countersued claiming that No Doubt's suit was being used to quiet their freedom of speech. The Court of Appeals ruled that the likenesses of No Doubt band members were not sufficiently "transformative" and represented nothing "more than literal, fungible reproductions of their likenesses."

A similar case is working through the Ninth Circuit where former NCAA basketball players are suing Electronic Arts for using the likenesses in games without their permission.