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Sarcasmancer
09/13/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
Okay now I've got a clearer idea about what's going on. At first I thought Love had nothing to do with Kurt's appearance in the game and that she saw this controversy as a way to make a quick buck. Instead it turns out she already sold his soul to Activision and now she's trying to wring more dough out of them because having him sing AFI crosses some kind of line. I don't hold Kurt or Nirvana particularly near and dear, but the hypocrisy and greed at play here really turns my stomach.
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Edited by Sarcasmancer at 09/13/09 2:30 PM Sarcasmancer was starred Sarcasmancer was unstarred

guitarheroguru
09/12/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
Whoa, so I just read an article with a new development in this situation. Apparently, Courtney Love is now blaming Dave Ghrol for what happened and that she wants him "ass raped". This was also via her Twitter.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but since Dave has no control over Cobain's estate, that would mean he could not possibly be the one to blame. Courtney's the one who is charge of that stuff. Dave only has a say in terms of Nirvana's music, no?

Here's the article's URL.

[www.defamer.com.au]
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. approved this comment guitarheroguru was starred guitarheroguru was unstarred

fleshribbon
09/11/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
Yeah, I agree they should only have Cobain singing Nirvana songs otherwise it's just creepy.
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LordMoon
09/11/09

@fleshribbon: No creepy is Johnny Cash singing Du Hast. Try it, you'd think he's summoning the devil himself.
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The Anti-Fanboy
09/11/09

@LordMoon: Or Bring the Noise. "Yeaaaa boiiii!"
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BlueBeard promoted this comment The Anti-Fanboy was starred The Anti-Fanboy was unstarred

BlueBeard
09/14/09

@The Anti-Fanboy: I just imagined Johnny Cash singing Bring Tha Noize in his own voice, and it is BAD-ASS.

Too bad the version in the game is so bad- I'd have wanted the Anthrax version or none at all.
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LordMoon
09/11/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
Everyone is sooooo upset over Kurt Cobain being misused in GH5, yet everyone conveniently forgets that you can do the same damn thing with Johnny Cash. Who, I might add is infinitely a bigger star and musical influence than Kurt could ever hope to be.

Yet you hear nothing from the Cash estate about suing Activision.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment LordMoon was starred LordMoon was unstarred

searanox
09/11/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
I'm sorry, but this is a load of shit. They used vague language in their agreement with Activision. Apparently, having Kurt perform songs other than his own "denigrates" him? Really? I normally wear black shirts - if someone draws me wearing a white shirt, can I sue them for "denigrating my image"? It sounds like she's butthurt because she didn't define the terms of her agreement properly, and now wants drug money as compensation. Poor her, but maybe she needs better lawyers in the future if the don't do a proper job in specifying how third parties can use Kurt's likeness.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment searanox was starred searanox was unstarred

OgdenCarter
09/11/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
While their may well (and should!) be an anti-denigratioin clause, your claim that his avatar preforming other songs is denigration has a weakness.

"Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain's likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero 5," Activision told Kotaku

If the contract, which NEITHER of us has seen, explicitly allows his use as a fully playable character, then even if it IS defamation Activision is within their legal rights.

As in any legal arrangement, you are responsible for making sure that your understand your rights and must actively protect them. Look at what Harmonix is saying about RB:B and Ms. Ono; she was clearly engaged with the product, and was aware of its nature and contents before its release. Ms. Love could and SHOULD have taken similar steps.

The current situation says either she did not do so, or she did not understand what she was seeing. Both can be placed on her.

Or do we automatically assume that HER lawyer's press releases are false, while those from Activision are not?
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment Culebra approved this comment OgdenCarter was starred OgdenCarter was unstarred

rainofwalrus
09/11/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
coffin break was better than nirvana
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Edited by rainofwalrus at 09/11/09 2:47 PM rainofwalrus was starred rainofwalrus was unstarred

Maujer
09/11/09

@rainofwalrus: dear god, I think I did drugs with coffin break.
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rainofwalrus promoted this comment Maujer was starred Maujer was unstarred

rainofwalrus
10/02/09

@Maujer: freal? Coffin Break was the real. "Im so happy, the world's gonna explode!"--Coffin Break
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Billkwando
09/11/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
Courtney may not have needed to pull the trigger. Maybe she inverted /b/tardation and told him to "Go kill urself"?
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donopolis
09/11/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
If Cobain's likeness were used for Mortal Combat games...His finishing move would be a shotgun and would only work on himself...his opponent would then drown in the mess left.
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Culebra promoted this comment donopolis was starred donopolis was unstarred

Culebra
09/11/09

@donopolis: I'm insulted.

It's spelled Mortal Kombat.
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TRT-X
09/11/09

@Culebra: Can I unstar you for promoting that?
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TRT-X was starred TRT-X was unstarred

Culebra
09/11/09

@TRT-X: Nope.

It's a side effect of responding to a comment. Imagine it as another word, and all will be well.
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hodayathink wants WWFRD back!
09/11/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
Thank you for finally using a good Courtney pic.
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Rubix42
09/11/09

@hodayathink is running for president of Naughty America:

Where the crap did they find a good Courtney pick, this is the question!
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hodayathink is running for president of Naughty America promoted this comment Rubix42 was starred Rubix42 was unstarred

Lezard
09/11/09

@Rubix42: Step 1: Don't let Luke do the Google image search.
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hodayathink is running for president of Naughty America promoted this comment Lezard was starred Lezard was unstarred

ThisCharmingMan
09/11/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
Is nothing sacred?
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jack m
09/11/09

@ThisCharmingMan: No kidding! Show some respect for a suicidal junkie of questionable technical ability!
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ThisCharmingMan promoted this comment jack m was starred jack m was unstarred

ThisCharmingMan
09/11/09

@jack m: A lot of people love that suicidal junkie's records man. I was a huge Nirvana fan. So yes, your ridiculous sarcastic tone aside, he DOES deserve respect.
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KW802
09/13/09

@ThisCharmingMan: So none of the other deceased musicians depicted "deserve respect" in the same manner? Why get upset over Cobain but not Cash? Seems to be a bit selective in your misguided anger.
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ThisCharmingMan promoted this comment KW802 was starred KW802 was unstarred

ThisCharmingMan
09/13/09

@KW802: Trust me, I'm not playing favorites. The image of Johnny Cash in that game is just as disturbing, and I don't really consider my anger misguided. Or even anger, for that matter. Would you be happy if a virtual replica of yourself appeared doing something you despised? I wouldn't.
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KW802
09/13/09

@ThisCharmingMan: So don't use the avatar for anything but his own songs; it's that simple.
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dowingba
09/11/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
I don't even understand why they needed to sign a contract in order to use Cobain's name and likeness. Did Robot Chicken have to get permission for their episode where Zombie Kurt Cobain shoots himself with a shotgun?
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Maluvin
09/11/09

@dowingba: Satire is a fair use exception. Different beast completely.
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dowingba promoted this comment Maluvin was starred Maluvin was unstarred

dowingba
09/11/09

@Maluvin: How so?
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Izod517
09/11/09

@dowingba: It's protected under law, that's how so. That's just the short and sweet of it really. He was right on the money when he said "fair use expcetion." Otherwise things like political cartoons and Robot Chicken would be under constant legal fire. ((Codified in 17 USC § 107. The Supreme Court of the United States stated that parody "is the use of some elements of a prior author's composition to create a new one that, at least in part, comments on that author's works.")) That's not the entireity of it, but enough for you to no longer question it, I would hope.
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dowingba promoted this comment Izod517 was starred Izod517 was unstarred

dowingba
09/11/09

@Izod517: " It's protected under law, that's how so."

Why are you being such an asshole? It was just a fucking question.
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ryanisjimdandy
09/11/09

@dowingba: He went out and explained to you in full detail to remove your misunderstanding of the difference between satire and commercial use and you call him an asshole.

Great.
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dowingba promoted this comment ryanisjimdandy was starred ryanisjimdandy was unstarred

dowingba
09/11/09

@ryanisjimdandy: Because he was being a fucking asshole.

First of all people, no matter how "obvious" this US law is, some of us don't actually live in the US. I still don't understand why someone like Robot Chicken gets a free ride when the equally unrealistic version of Kurt Cobain in GH5 doesn't.

But I'm not gonna bother checking back for actual answers, as for some reason you people take this as some sort of attack on your God Kurt Cobain or something. It was just a simple question, people. Fucking relax.
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TRT-X
09/11/09

@dowingba: Your answer was "parody" is protected differently. Not to difficult.
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dowingba
09/11/09

@TRT-X: But why isn't GH5 "parody"?
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Izod517
09/12/09

@dowingba: I wasn't intentionally being an asshole - one of the problems with the internet is the lack of tone. To be honest I took your "how so" as a bit of douchebaggery rather than an honest question - mea culpa. Regardless it's not parody because it's not making a comment, usually satirical in nature. ((A parody in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation)). Again that's not the end all be all (although it's a fairly decent rule to follow) but GH5 is mostly a creation that uses other works (via licensing) in order to make a profit. The works themselves (characters or otherwise) would remain legally in the hands of the original creator/owner while the only thing GH5 actually owns is the engine/code. The game itself isn't making any sort of commentary etc. Anyways I hope this clarifies the real issue at hand and question.
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dowingba approved this comment Izod517 was starred Izod517 was unstarred

Izod517
09/12/09

@Izod517: In addendum there's a lot in parody law/protection that requires a new 'work' in order to be valid. In the case of Robot Chicken while they are using likenesses, they are obviously original creations and used in original situations that creates an entire new piece of work. In Robot Chicken you would never mistake a claymation figure and it's extreme actions for either being the persona it represented or being the actual act of the person represented. There is /something/ to be said that they rendered a new figure - but not much - since it's being portrayed AS that person and not a caricature of them. The real key there is caricature.
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dowingba approved this comment Izod517 was starred Izod517 was unstarred

dowingba
09/12/09

@Izod517: That's a good explanation. Thanks.
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Magister
09/12/09

@dowingba: What the heck is a "Robot Chicken"?
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Dark_Mirage
09/11/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
So, I guess the only thing to now is wait and see if Johnny Cash's estate feels the same way about his use in the game.
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thesircuddles promoted this comment Dark_Mirage was starred Dark_Mirage was unstarred

thesircuddles
09/11/09

@Dark_Mirage: The more curious question is what would peoples' response be, and what would Activisions response be.

It'd be interesting to see where people on both sides of the Cobain debate would fall if this same thing was happening with Cash.
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Edited by thesircuddles at 09/11/09 12:56 PM thesircuddles was starred thesircuddles was unstarred

Deegs
09/11/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
Wow, talk about splitting hairs here. "You can use Cobaine for songs he wrote but not for every song in the game its demeaning to his name!" Cobaine was a singer just like everyone else, he wasn't some freaking god or something that stands tall above everyone else. If Activision had a contract to use his name and likeness then it ends there, saying that he is being defamed for "singing songs that are his" is laughable at best.
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ShaggE wants to join the Egg Council. promoted this comment Deegs was starred Deegs was unstarred

dodongski
09/11/09

@Deegs: no, he wasn't a singer just like everyone else. can you imagine let's say... tupac singing/rapping a song made by hmm... will smith? He CAN, but would he?
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Communist Pope promoted this comment dodongski was starred dodongski was unstarred

TRT-X
09/11/09

@Deegs: Except that if the contractual agreement was "Cobain can only be used in Nirvana songs" then that was the contractual agreement and Activision is in violation of their contract. That is the end of it.

Seriously, who are the people promoting these garbage comments?
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Communist Pope
09/11/09

@Deegs: It's okay. If you don't even know how to spell the man's name, nobody expects you to understand why Activision's non-Nirvana use of the Cobain Cartoon is upsetting to his fans and especially those who were closest to him (by which I'm referring to Novoselic and Grohl, not necessarily Love). So don't loose any sleep over it.
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Insomnia Bob
09/11/09

In reply to Cobain Attorney Calls For Activision To Limit Musician's Use in GH5
Screw it. I say we all just dance on his grave. The man's dead. And this whole situation is profoundly weird on so many levels.

Here's a question: Who was really excited about having a virtual Kurt Cobain mumble his way through a Three Days Grace song?

I mean, who is the audience for that?
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Insomnia Bob was starred Insomnia Bob was unstarred

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