Realism takes a backlash on games |
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From the old 16-bit days to the current generation of gaming, the quest to make games more realistic has been the golden fleece of just about every developer. Game makers, however, need to slow down as an article in Game Daily warns that lawsuits can arise from this aspect of creative exploration.The First Amendment has recently been put to the test against laws barring the emulation of people and landmarks for commercial use. Lawsuits have been filed against Sega and Rockstar Entertainment for alleged violations of identities and trademarks. Courts ultimately decided to favor the developers, but not without a heated court debate for each case.
In the litigation involving Rockstar, East L.A. strip club PlayPen complained that the makers of the Grand Theft Auto series depicted a very similar club in a very similar location with a very similar name in one of their titles. The club in the game? The PigPen.
In the same manner, Sega got into a bit of trouble with Kierin Kirby of the 80's pop group Dee-Lite. Kirby claims that the Japanese publisher created a game called Space Channel 5 with a main character that resembled her. The Space Channel 5 heroine, Ulala, has a similar dress motif, hairstyle and dance repertoire to the real-life performer, thus ushering a litigation.
Sega won by the power of freedom of expression. The court ruled that there were substantial differences between Ulala and Kirby in terms of hair arrangement, dresses and body frame, ending the dispute.
Lawyers assured the public that this isn't the last of these cases and offenders will be taken to court whenever the need arises for litigation.
Via GameDaily
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Comments [refresh]
GTA example--it's called parody, and it's protected speech. Watch a south park, simpsons, SNL...it's humor, not stealing.
SC5 example--Dried up pop singer wanting money really shouldn't be grounds for a legal case, but hey...it's America. We not know coffee hot--too hot for skin, make burn!
these are fine examples of lawers and their clients who want to make money cuz someone made something that looked like them.
like comon, whos gona be like : wow that place was the 1 in gta, where the guys got mowed down....i aint goin in there!.....
like comon......
parody
n. the humorous use of an existing song, play, or writing which changes the words to give farcical and ironic meaning. Parodies have been challenged as copyright infringements on the original works, particularly since some have reaped terrific profits. Recent decisions favor the parodies and say they have an originality of their own and, thus, are not infringements. There is a free speech issue involved in these decisions since parodies traditionally have so- cial and political significance.
source: dictionary.law.com
The use of the "image" of a privately owned and operated business does not fall into the category of parody in any sense of the word and is therefore not validly protected.
The owners of the "Play Pen" should have every right as to how their establishment is portrayed if at all.
I guess I was wrong. Cathy Lee Giffard needs to go out and sue South Park for implying that she's an Alien. And so should Family guy. And John Edwards. And OJ (getting the point here?).
I suppose you think a "comedy," which originally meant a humorous play, can only apply to a play, since that's the way it was once defined.
And as for Playpen defending the way they're portayed? Pigpen's obviously intended to be a double entendre and I'm sure less than 1% of all GTA players though the name was anything more than that.
i fear for my life with all these new GTA users around NY, If they ran over someone on the game on a particular street and i walk on the street might they do the same? IM SOOO SCARED :'( and homosexual.
why are people making all sorts of lawsuits when the outcome is clearly not going to be in their favor?
I won $10,000 for a theft motivated by GTA SA.