Our crack legal team was quick to point out to Sega that we believe the existence of the trailer and screens are newsworthy and that we aren't actually violating Sega's rights.

So I guess you can chalk those down as officially confirmed. Thank you mister lawyer man.

Dear Mr. Crecente,

It has come to our attention that your website, Kotaku.com , has unauthorized postings of Sega's copyrighted work, the debut trailer and screenshots for Sonic Unleashed ("Work"). The postings may be found at:
http://kotaku.com/371098/leaked-sonic-unleashed-footage and http://kotaku.com/371203/more-sonic-unleashed-images-trickle-out.

As the copyright holder of the Work, Sega did not authorize the use of the Work in this manner, either via license or otherwise. Sega has a good faith belief that the use of the Work in this manner is not authorized by us (the copyright owner), any of our agents, or the law. Thus, Sega respectfully requests that you promptly remove this posting from Kotaku.com . Please provide me with confirmation that the posting has been removed.

The information in this letter is accurate, and I declare under penalty of perjury that I am authorized to act on behalf of Sega's exclusive copyright in the Work that is being infringed.

If you would like to discuss this matter with me, I am quite happy to do so. ... Thank you for your prompt attention.

Best regards,

Tristan Higgins-Goodell
Senior Legal Counsel
Sega of America, Inc.