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Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq ("LGJ"), a column on legal issues as they relate to video games:

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/diaper/ / CC BY 2.0

You may have seen the news that ASCAP, one of the major music licensing groups, is asking for royalties over Guitar Hero arcade units because they view them as jukeboxes. This kind of story demonstrates a gray area that LGJ has touched on before: music down stream licensing in games. Given just how nebulous and complex this can be, it seems as though this is an appropriate time to discuss the issue in full. It's a complexity that speaks to the age of the industry, and just how many elements out there really haven't been sorted out as well as other media, like movies and television, have. It's also something that doesn't just affect game developers, but also establishment owners and musicians, like frequent Guitar Hero artist An Endless Sporadic.

This is one of those instances where there are so many moving pieces it's difficult to determine the most logical point to begin. The idea of collective music licensing is probably as good a place as any. Copyright law dictates that the creator of a work holds certain rights to that work, which we've discussed at length in LGJ. Based on those rights, if you want to integrate a copyrighted work into another work, you would need a license. As you could imagine, however, if you're creating a film or running a radio station, tracking down each and every artist for every song you want to use would be a labor intensive process that would likely never end. Enter companies like ASCAP and BMI as the solution to that very problem.

For $5, you could probably buy a value meal fit for a king -- but you know what you couldn't get? A delightfully charming action platformer starring a purple, omnivorous and gelatinous blob. No, wait! This week -- and this week only -- you can get a delightfully charming action platformer starring a purple, omnivorous and gelatinous blob. The price of Twisted Pixel's The Maw has been slashed from 800 MS Points ($10) to 400 MS Points ($5). And here we thought Christmas was over.

Additionally, today's holiday XBLM deal is a Rolling Stones live track pack for Guitar Hero 5. It can be yours for only 360 ($4.50), half the usual 720 ($9) price.

Shortcut: Add The Maw to your 360 download queue [Via Xbox.com]
Shortcut: The Rolling Stones Live Track Pack [Via Xbox.com]

Microsoft has announced that it's rolling out the real Xbox Live Music Games stores. When the latest Dashboard Update rolled out earlier this year, this section was comprised solely of Xbox Live Marketplace entries for music game DLC, but now each game will be receiving its own themed store. So, if you want to pick up Rock Band or Guitar Hero tracks, you can open up the corresponding store and start browsing. Each store will also allow users to preview songs, so there's no need to fire up each game to see if you like a particular track.

The stores should be going live sometime today, so keep an eye on the Music Marketplace section of the Xbox 360 dashboard. The games that will feature their own stores include Rock Band, Rock Band 2, The Beatles: Rock Band, LEGO Rock Band, Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Band Hero, Lips and Lips: Number One Hits. Check out images of the new storefronts in the gallery below.

In the same way that Master Chief 'n friends have relegated their Xbox Live forces to Halo Waypoint, Neversoft has created a one-stop shop for all your Guitar Hero needs on the service. The "Guitar Hero VIP Pass" is now on the Xbox Live Marketplace, gathering all DLC for the music series into a centralized hub.

Sadly, unlike a real life VIP Pass, the DLC store does not carry with it the opportunity to get Joe Perry to sign your cleavage, though we can tell from your expression during the first half of this sentence that we all had very different experiences during the '80s.

[Via 360Sync]

Just in time for the holiday season, RedOctane has kicked off yet another Guitar Hero deal. In exchange for $99.99, patrons of the Guitar Hero Store can snag a copy of Guitar Hero 5, plus two wireless guitar controllers, on either Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. And if you're thinking about this as a gift for someone special this holiday season, be sure to check out of our gift guides, which are chock full of ideas for gaming gifts.

You gotta hand it to this kid's parents, who managed to turn up their boring old Christmas lights to 11 and into quite the Guitar Hero homage. It's not the first time we've seen Activision's franchise mix it up with some Christmas lights, but it's certainly the most unique and inspired. We've embedded the video past the break so put on your favorite Rudolph sweater (the good one with the blinking nose you keep in the back of the closet), pour yourself a hot cup of cocoa and give it a watch.

Major Nelson has revealed that two new demos are available on Xbox Live Marketplace. The first is Guitar Hero: Van Halen. It's like Guitar Hero, but with Van Halen in it. At this point, if you need more description than that we can't really help you. The demo is available in all regions.

The other demo is for Crash Time 3. Honestly, how that game ever made it past Crash Time 1 is a mystery we will never solve. The demo is available in European regions only. You can add either demo to your 360 download queue by clicking the links below.

Shortcut: Download the Guitar Hero: Van Helen demo [Via Xbox.com]
Shortcut: Download the Crash Time 3 demo (Europe only) [Via Xbox.com]

Activision is pulling out a majority of the stops for the last month of 2009, adding a highly varied assortment of tracks to Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero throughout the next 31 days. Included are track packs from OneRepublic and The Fall of Troy, an "Indie Rock" pack which includes songs from Spoon, Pavement and Nada Surf, a "New Years Rock" pack which features music from Taylor Swift, Maroon 5 and No Doubt, and finally, a totally free song which will arrive shortly before the holidays: Steve Ouimette's version of "Hark The Herald Angels Sing."

These songs follow the franchise's usual DLC pricing structure: Each single track will cost 160 ($2, 200 Wii Points), while each track pack will cost 440 ($5.50, 550 Wii Points). For a full list of song titles and release dates, just click past the break.

Activision has applied to trademark Drum Hero. Yes, your initial reaction is likely the same as ours: "Wait, how did Activision not do that already?" Good question, but apparently the Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, and Band Hero publisher only applied for the trademark in late October. This does not guarantee a percussion-based Hero title is in the works, but, once again, aren't we all a little surprised one doesn't already exist?

If the inside of your cranium is tickling with the distinct feeling like you have memory of a Drum Hero trademark, the confusion may have to do with the Guitar Villain and Drum Villain trademarks, that were apparently filed back in 2007 -- which is when one would think the Drum Hero trademark would have been filed as well.

[Via MTV Multiplayer]

Look, just feign surprise, it makes these financial posts so much more exciting: Activision today reported net revenues of $755 million (on a non-GAAP basis) in the quarter ending September 30, 2009 -- that's $55 million more than the suits hoped to stack, according to previous projections. While the blockbuster adaptation of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen might have played a part in this outpouring of our money, we're gonna go with Kotick's explanation: "Our performance was driven by positive audience response to Activision Publishing's Guitar Hero 5, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, and the Guitar Hero and Call of Duty franchises, as well as Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft."

In fact, the CEO called Guitar Hero the year's "#1 best-selling third-party franchise in North America and Europe" through September, claiming that U.S. sales of music games increased 72 percent year over year in September. Last year's big-band-box edition, World Tour, and Call of Duty: World at War combined for total, world domination, becoming this year's "#1 and #2 best-selling third-party titles" in North America and Europe through September, according to Activision. Additionally, World at War DLC map pack sales continued to climb last quarter and have now surpassed 7.5 million purchases.

Needless to say, the publisher is not backing off of its prior financial outlook. Activision anticipates annual net revenues of $4.5 billion (on a non-GAAP basis) at the close of the year. Did you remember to feign surprise?

Sure, November may lack the phonetic building blocks which allow the word "Rock" to be tucked in there somehow, but that doesn't mean it won't bring any hard-rockin' jams to Guitar Hero 5. We've got the full list of DLC that's coming to the game next month posted after the jump, including selections from Lenny Kravitz, Metallica, KISS and others. One bundle, the "Neversoft Thanks the Fans Track Pack," will be absolutely free. The other packs, will follow the 160 ($2, 200 Wii Points) per song, 440 ($5.50, 550 Wii Points) per three-song pack pricing structure of last month's releases.

In addition, on Nov. 5, players will be able to import 61 of Band Hero's tracks into Guitar Hero 5 for 400 ($5, 500 Wii Points), or 69 of Guitar Hero 5's tracks into Band Hero for 480 ($6, 600 Wii Points). Hooray for sharing!

When celebrities get on board for a game, the inevitable pitfall is the dreaded interview where said celebrity awkwardly tries relating to the "gamer" crowd (trust us, we know all about it.) With DJ Hero dropping this week, celebrity sponsor Jay-Z sat down with MTV News to talk about how much of a gamer he is (hint: not so much) and his support for the cultural awareness opportunities inherent in the recently released turntable title.

"Immediately, of course, with the success of Guitar Hero, you know, [DJ Hero] piqued my interest, and then on top of that it was something from the hip-hop culture. So, anytime you can, you know, I can expand the genre and introduce it to new audiences and widen it -- you know, the reach of what hip-hop can do -- you know, I'm interested in that," Jay-Z explains in the video interview (embedded after the break).

As far as Jay-Z's gaming roots, that's another story altogether. "I was really a gamer," Jay-Z urges. "Like, ask any of the guys. Like, I used to -- Madden and all these type of games," Jay-Z awkwardly cobbles together, "I was, like, really a problem. Like, those were my things -- for awhile." Presumably, until, you know, he got all that other stuff that impresses us, right? It's okay, Mr. Z -- you don't have to impress us with your gaming prowess, too. It's not like we have the numbers of "the guys" to fact check your claims anyway.

Activision is making people believe in the weird DS "drum skin" attachment for Band Hero the best way it knows how: by finding the most excitable shills it can in shopping centers, and putting the game in their hands. Predictably, they love it. We've never seen a mall so full of people willing to dance awkwardly to a DS game.

The buttons that go on top of the DS's buttons are only one of the selling points espoused in this trailer. Band Hero's extensive track list and flexible multiplayer (just like in the console version, you can combine instruments in any configuration) get lip service too. But they aren't as noticeable as that thing you put on the DS to play drums.

University of Washington Ph.D. student Scott Saponas demonstrated his muscle-movement interface for computer systems, by using it to control a familiar application: Guitar Hero. The system appears to guess finger movements by reading the signals from muscles in the forearm. The result: a true air guitar experience. In the custom Guitar Hero setup, the player can hold frets simply by touching a finger with his thumb, and strum by, well, strumming the air. See it in action after the break!

This is just a demonstration of some experimental technology. It's not specifically a game controller, and Activision won't be shipping electrodes to stores any time soon. This is a presentation for the Association for Computer Machinery's Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology -- the Guitar Hero thing just makes for an impressive show.

[Via Kotaku]

Normally when people mod real instruments for use in music-rhythm games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, they don't intentionally include the ability for someone else to play along by punching them. For Norway's Morten Skogly, that choice seemed only natural. On his website, you can see a shot-by-shot breakdown of the process necessary to transform something that creates music into something that plays along with music.

In fairness, the entire (ridiculously intricate) process leads to the hilarious video you'll find after the break. You see, rather than strum on the strings of his guitar, the punching gloves (punching him, mind you) approximate a strum for him. That means that every time he pushes a note, he gets punched. It's like penance!