New York-based film production company, MKR Group, is suing Capcom claiming the Xbox 360 game, Dead Rising, infringes the copyright of George A Romero's 1978 zombie flick Dawn of the Dead.

According to Reuters, "Earlier this month, Capcom filed a case against MKR in a California federal court, seeking a declaration that the game did not infringe on MKR's intellectual property rights. It also sought an injunction to prevent MKR from suing the company".

Capcom's contention is that, "humans battling zombies in a shopping mall" is a "wholly unprotectible idea".

MKR in its filing in New York on Monday claims that, "Both works are dark comedies. In both, the recreational activities of the zombies and absurdly grotesque 'kill scenes' provide unexpected comedic relief.

"Both works provided thoughtful social commentary on the 'mall culture' zeitgeist, in addition to serving up a sizable portion of sensationalistic violence".

The MKR Group is effectively owned by Richard Rubinstein the producer on the 2004 remake of Romero's 1978 classic. 2004 was in fact Rubinstein's last connection with The Dead movies.

Neither Capcom nor MKR could settle the zombie-based argument out of court. Send more brains says SPOnG.

^{Sources: Reuters
BBC}