2024 has been a pretty good year for Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic fans in general. Aside from a nomination to the 2024 Game Awards, Sonic the Hedgehog's third movie will be released in the United States on December 20.
However, it's not all sunshine and butterflies for the SEGA franchise, as the company currently faces a lawsuit concerning the iconic "Live and Learn" song used in many Sonic games and media.
Johnny Gioeli, the song's composer and the lead vocalist of the band Crush 40, is filing a lawsuit against SEGA over the song's ownership. Gioeli claims he owns the song and states that SEGA has "exploited and licensed Live and Learn over 25 video games, television shows. live performances/events, and films".
According to Polygon, Gioeli was unaware that the song had been used this way until recently. His lawyers state that the damage caused by the breach of contract costs more than $500,000, excluding the restitution for unpaid royalties.
This lawsuit could be a substantial blow to SEGA if it does not go in their favor, but Sonic fans aren't entirely convinced.
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Some say that it sounds dubious that Gioeli wasn't aware that the song has been on many different Sonic games and find it odd that Gioeli only recently filed the lawsuit after many years.
Others pointed out that while the phrase "filing a lawsuit against someone" sounds antagonistic and can lead to different assumptions, it's better to look at things from a different perspective and consider that Gioeli and SEGA are not really against each others' throats, but rather the lawsuit is just a huge copyright issue.
SEGA is not new to lawsuits. It had previously dealt with Ken Penders regarding some Sonic characters in the comics. After the lawsuit, it would appear that the characters created by Penders were purged from Sonic continuity.
Fans are wary that this might also happen to Gioeli, resulting in the possible removal of the song "Live and Learn" from many future Sonic games. However, most are optimistic that SEGA and Gioeli will be able to settle the lawsuit amicably.
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