Mirra Sues Acclaim Over Game
Posted by Bagel on Saturday, February 15 2003

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pro BMX bike rider Dave Mirra has filed suit against video game publisher Acclaim Entertainment Inc. (NasdaqSC:AKLM - news), seeking more than $20 million in damages and claiming that a "pornographic" game featuring strippers on bikes hurt his image.

The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in eastern New York, claimed Acclaim used Mirra's name and likeness to promote the game "BMX XXX" after the two sides signed an agreement to disassociate Mirra from the title.

"It's a baseless lawsuit and we're going to vigorously fight it," Acclaim spokesman Alan Lewis told Reuters.

"BMX XXX" uses the tagline "Keep it Dirty" and features copulating pink poodles, shots of strippers in action and a variety of racing bike stunts.

Some of the nation's largest retailers refused to sell the game because of its content, and the weak performance of "XXX" and other games has battered Acclaim's stock in recent months.

In the suit, Mirra said he and Acclaim entered discussions in March 2002 about attaching his name to "BMX XXX," which he claimed was described as a mature, tongue-in-cheek game in the vein of spoof films like "Airplane."

But Mirra alleged the game's focus was changed after he signed an agreement to lend his name to it.

"During the ongoing development of (XXX), but after obtaining Dave Mirra's approval of the initial concept, Acclaim changed the concept of the game to become more sexually explicit and pornographic, ultimately settling on nudity as a major selling point," the suit said.

Subsequently, according to the suit, Mirra and Acclaim signed an agreement on July 31, 2002, to remove Mirra's name and likeness from the game and its promotional materials.

But Mirra claimed that after the agreement was signed, Acclaim continued to call the game "Dave Mirra BMX XXX" and use his name and likeness in ads and other promotional products for the title.