No Doubt v. Activision Publishing, Inc

In No Doubt v. Activision Publishing, Inc. (2011) 192 Cal.App.4th 1018, the members of a band entered into a contract allowing a video game producer to use images of the band in certain specified contexts. After the video game was released, the band sued alleging that the producer had used its image in contexts other than those described in the contract. The producer moved to strike the complaint under section 425.16, asserting the band's claim was predicated on a protected activity--the production of a video game. No Doubt opposed the motion, arguing that the producer had not "satisfied the threshold showing under section 425.16 because a contract issue, not the producer's right to free speech, is at the heart of the parties' dispute." (No Doubt, supra, 192 Cal.App.4th at p. 1027.) The Court concluded that, although the conduct at issue--production of a video game--might qualify as a breach of the parties' contract, it also involved a form of protected activity. (Ibid.)