Ubisoft is taking the Black Eyed Peas to court. The 1 million dollar lawsuit claims that BEP Music LLC, the legal entity that represents the music act, has refused to lend follow-up support for an iOS version of The Black Eyed Peas Experience, released last year for the Wii and Xbox 360.
According to Player Attack, the relationship between the two parties began with a licensing agreement that was struck in June of 2011, which entitled Ubisoft the exclusive rights to develop, produce, and distribute games featuring the band's music and likenesses, for all existing and future handheld platforms, including iOS.
Later that year, the first game to be forged from the agreement was released, The Black Eyed Peas Experience, for Nintendo and Microsoft's home consoles. Before it could be set loose, BEP Music had to give the okay, which they did in a timely manner.
Then earlier this year, Ubisoft developed a follow-up for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Per the agreement, it was submitted to the band and its representatives for written approval, much like last time, and as outlined in the contract. BEP Music has the rights to accept of reject any video game proposals, which must be taken care of in ten business days.
But BEP never got back to Ubisoft. Not with the ten business days, nor the months that followed. Repeated requests were made by the publisher, in various forms, and were all ignored. Hence the lawsuit; Ubisoft is accusing BEP Music of "failing and refusing to either approve or disapprove the IOS game in writing or otherwise". It goes on to state:
As a direct and proximate result of BEP Music's breach of contract, Ubisoft has suffered damages in an amount in excess of $1,000,000, which not only includes Ubisoft's out-of-pocket development costs, but also the profits Ubisoft has lost and will continue to lose as a result of BEP Music's breach of contract.
No word yet from The Black Eyed Peas, nor any clues as to why they never got back to Ubisoft? Were they too busy on the road? Did they not like how the console game turned out?
