Rockstar/Take-Two Subpoenaed by NY DA, Sued by Warrior

Rockstar Games and parent company Take-Two Interactive are off to a bit of a rocky week in legal matters. Yesterday, Take-Two issued a statement that the company has received subpoenas from the District Attorney of the County of New York. The company has been asked to submit all documents dating back to October 21, 2001 concerning the development of the infamous Hot Coffee scene as well as various financial documents from that same time period. The full terms of the subpoena call for materials relating to:

the knowledge of the Company's officers and directors regarding the creation, inclusion and programming of hidden scenes (commonly referred to as "hot coffee") in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the submission of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to the Entertainment Software Rating Board for a rating, and the Company's disclosures regarding hot coffee; disclosures and presentations by the Company of certain events, including acquisitions, partnering arrangements and earnings results; invoices from, payments to, and termination of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and retention of Ernst & Young LLP; acquisitions by the Company in 2005; certain compensation and human resources documents with respect to the Company and certain of its current and former officers and directors; and documents concerning the activities of the Company's Board of Directors and Committees thereof.

Take-Two's statement indicates that no specific subjects of an investigation have been named, and the company plans to cooperate fully in the matter. In other Rockstar-related news, the publisher and its parent company are being sued by Roger Hill, an actor in the 1979 film "The Warriors," which was used as the basis for Rockstar's game of the same name released last year. Hill played Cyrus, leader of the film's Gramercy Riffs gang, and his film likeness is depicted in the video game. Now, Hill, who currently works in a Manhattan library, claims that Rockstar and Take-Two never completed the deal that would have given them the right to use his likeness in the game. According to Hill, he was given an initial offer and declined, but further negotiations were never undertaken. Take-Two and Rockstar allege that the companies do indeed own "a valid third-party license for the rights to use Roger Hill's likeness" in the game and other materials.