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Cobain's Guitar Hero Cameo Brings Legal Threat; 'Activision Smugly Boasting of Rape,' Says Love
by Chris Faylor, Sep 10, 2009 8:03am PDTMusician Courtney Love has launched a strongly worded and rather vulgar campaign against the use of her deceased husband's likeness in Guitar Hero 5, claiming that she is "going to sue the shit out of [Activision]" over Kurt Cobain's in-game appearance.
A digital rendition of the Nirvana frontman performs "Smells Like Teen Spirit" during the game's career mode, after which players can use his likeness to perform any in-game song (such as "Play That Funky Music") in any capacity (drums, guitar, vocals).
Love says she "never signed [off] on the avatar" and adds "I think Kurt would despise this game alone let alone this avatar." Activision previously told Rolling Stone that it had gotten approval from Love, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl and Primary Wave Publishing to use two Nirvana tunes and Cobain's likeness in the game.
"Courtney supplied us with photos and videos and knew exactly what she wanted Kurt to look like," the company explained. "She picked the wardrobe and hair style, which turned out to be the 'Teen Spirit' look, then we went back and forth over changes."
Cobain's not the only real-life rock star to appear in the game. Digitized versions of Johnny Cash, Carlos Santana, Matt Bellamy (Muse) and Shirley Manson (Garbage) are also featured, and can also be used in any song and in any capacity once unlocked.
A summary of Love's tirade, culled from hundreds of near-incomprehensible Twitter updates, can be found below. Be warned, however, of some strong language.
WE are going to sue the shit out of ACtivision we being the Trust the Estate the LLC the various LLCs Cobain EnterprisesFor the record this Guitar Hero shit is breach of contract on a Bullys part and there will be a proper addressing of this and retraction .
BRAGGING about this insane thing, fucking RECALLL and proper PR on this now. BRAGGING.activision gets DICK!
christ this is beyond comprehension activision are CUNT
the goddammed Lunchbox was it for me i get crucified over Converse shoes i didnt approve and stood it, then spy a lunchbox and nowGHERO?NO!!
yeah Jack WHite,Dylan,Petty,Kings of Leon, i dragged my ass and never signed of on the avatar, let alone this fucking"feature"i have NO say
FOR THE RECORD I DID NOT APPROVE KURTS AVATAR FOR GUYITARHERO5. i think Kurt would despise this game alone let alone this avatar
this is NECROPHILIC this is VILE please address all calls to my lawyer Kieth Fink Esquire who is FURIOUS And to my Publicist Rogers and Cowa
and they both also represent the Estate and Frances's Trust and if youd like to point the finger do so, Bruce Karsh at OAKTREE CAPITOL
and LARRY MESTEL at Primary WAVE not content to rape and pillage mydaughters "trust fund" a fucking JOKE in seattle called Laird NortonTyee
who do not know the difference between emi eom and bmi. who are greedy and lazy and forced me to 1 sell publishing rights then stole fromher
this goes to the VERY heart of what you motherfuckers refer to as my "ranting" NEVER underestimate a mothers love and NEVER underestimate
My ETERNAL and PURE love for my deceased husband, the guradian says Kurt has made 800m dollars(450mpounds) since passing,
ucking nmegafraud and youve got to show for it Kurt LUNCHBOXES< CONVERESE SNEAKERS AND ACTIVISION SMUGLY BOASTING OF RAPE
now theyre just LIQUIDATING kurt and IM THE DEVIL? I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH GUITAR HERO I LOATHE IT AND FIND IT ODIOUS KURT WOULD HAVE TOO
Comments
That being said something sticks out to me:
Activision previously told Rolling Stone that Love, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl and Primary Wave Publishing had all signed off.
The linked Rolling Stone article is entirely centered around Cobain performing the Nirvana songs in the game. The article was likely written before the game came out and published as the game came out.
To hear that Courtney Love signed off on this isn't surprising. To hear that Dave Grohl signed off is very disappointing - he's a really cool guy with a lot more common sense.
Therefore, I have to wonder if Activision never shared the plans to make Cobain an unlockable character, or didn't properly explain what that meant (i.e., being able to sing like Flavor Flav).
Anyway it'll be interesting to see how this lawsuit winds up. If Johnny Cash can be played the same way ("yeeeah boyeeee!") I'd be willing to bet this won't be the only lawsuit.
To be clear: if Love/Grohl/Primary Wave knew full well that this playable character bit was what they were signing off on, then they have no leg to stand on and this will get nowhere in court since "quality of deliverables" lawsuits tend to get nowhere in contract law. If Courtney Love's rage is due to the negative feedback she's getting then this lawsuit is just a "face saving" maneuver.
If nothing else this sort of thing is unlikely to happen in the future as musicians become more careful with how their likeness is handled in games. And now you know why Yoko Ono meddled in The Beatles: Rock Band development so much. And why car makers don't want their cars to get damaged in games. This is what happens when you or the people who represent you aren't careful enough.
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