Courtney Love vs Activision

Jesse Moody · Sep 2009

So any of you other guys reading this or following it?

I guess Love and the "estate" and former members of Nirvana are upset that you can use Cobain to sing other bands music alongside cartoony characters..

Honestly I don't care. Courtney Love is a crazy as all hell and she signed the agreement. She agreed to let Activision use the likeness and that is what they did. Is that wrong?

Why would this upset fans? It's a video game. They didn't dig him up, clone him and then force him to do their bidding... I mean really? Are people still this upset. I mean the guys been dead for how long?

Slum · Sep 2009

It all depends on what the actual agreement was.. Just because they were allowed to use his likeness, doesn't mean they have free reign. It's up to the lawyers to figure out if it was actually a breach of contract.

As for the ethical issues, well, I think it's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does have an uncomfortable feeling to the whole thing. Maybe it's because out of all the dead musicians in the games, Cobain is one who lived in died in our younger generation. On top of that, there's a perceived notion of Cobain being anti-establishment and coporate agendas...but he was on MTV with (albeit demonic) cheerleaders prancing around.

Overall, to me, it's just very "what..why the hell?"

Jesse Moody · Sep 2009

Yeah I suppose you are right. I guess it depends how the contract was "worded" I'm sure Activisions lawyers knew what they were doing.

Gav · Sep 2009

Those giant mounds of cocaine won't buy themselves, i guess.

danshewan · Sep 2009

Jesse Moody wrote: »

Honestly I don't care. Courtney Love is a crazy as all hell and she signed the agreement. She agreed to let Activision use the likeness and that is what they did. Is that wrong?

That's exactly what I thought.

Only Courtney Love would be crazy enough (or desperate enough) to sign a contract with a major publisher for rights to use Cobain's image, then sue for doing exactly that. It's not using Cobain's likeness in-game that's disrespectful, it's milking his talent and musical legacy for her own personal gain.

I'm no law expert, but surely she doesn't have a proverbial leg to stand on? Maybe someone that knows more about legal juju has been paying attention more closely, but the whole thing just smacks of desperation and I just stopped caring. Maybe she expects to sell more records as a result of the publicity.

Slum · Sep 2009

Say you're walking around downtown, some guy with a camera takes a photo of you, and asks if he can use your image in some marketing materials. You say ok. Then, your image ends up on a giant "I have herpes" billboard. At face value, yeah you signed off the rights to your likeness, but is it being used in a manner that negatively affects the perception of your character?

Obviously this isn't the same situation, but I can imagine how its possible to be in the same ballpark as that situation.

Jesse Moody · Sep 2009

Oh man that would be awesome SLUM... Well not for me personally but fuck. People would be like holy shit. you're the giant herpes billboard dude... GROSS!!!

On another note I have discovered that the real reason for this fallout with Activision is Courtney Love signed a contract for a new title called Crack Whore Hero and when funding and the small studio working on it went under the game was cancelled.

Sad, it would have been very interesting i'm sure.

Firebert · Sep 2009

well played Gav.
well played.

the second i read her name on the thread title, shivers went up my spine... she's just gross man... blugh

Justin Meisse · Sep 2009

it's like the CG Orville Redenbacher, creepy and in bad taste. Either Courtney Love was too high to understand what they planned to do, they didn't fully explain what they had planned or a combination of both.

danshewan · Sep 2009

I don't play musical games, so I guess I've missed the point as to what Activision actually intend to do with Cobain's likeness. I'm guessing it's better than the aforementioned herpes billboard (though surely Love would be the better candidate for that commercial), and worse than, say, Beatles Rock Band - I thought if anyone would have a hissy fit about likenesses / royalties etc in games, it'd be McCartney.

Maybe one of Activision's lawyers sneaked in a loophole clause in the contract allowing Blizzard to offer a miniature Kurt pet as part of next year's BlizzCon giveaway contests, complete with teeny guitar (+6 crit rating), and she was too baked to notice, hence the outrage.

Justin Meisse · Sep 2009

where Beatles Rock Band keeps the Beatles seperate from the rest of the rockband track list and doesn't let you customize or change characters, Guitar Hero 5 lets you do stuff like this:

[ame]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UuAoEW5MbI[/ame]

Jeremy Wright · Sep 2009

Justin_Meisse wrote: »

where Beatles Rock Band keeps the Beatles seperate from the rest of the rockband track list and doesn't let you customize or change characters, Guitar Hero 5 lets you do stuff like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UuAoEW5MbI

As a dude who was a fan of Nirvana in high school, I do find that pretty fucked. I don't like it. I don't know if I can explain in detail what rubs me the wrong way; I just don't think that if Kurt Cobain was alive he would be ok with this. I keep thinking of the MTV awards where he got into it with Axl Rose.

Either way, Courtney Love is a piece of garbage.

danshewan · Sep 2009

Justin_Meisse wrote: »

where Beatles Rock Band keeps the Beatles seperate from the rest of the rockband track list and doesn't let you customize or change characters, Guitar Hero 5 lets you do stuff like this...

Ah, okay - now I see why she's so pissed.

Thanks for clearing that up for me -the whole debacle makes a lot more sense after seeing that video. Although I still can't believe that Activision's lawyers didn't mention the capacity to make Cobain sing Bon Jovi tracks.

/shudder

Asherr · Sep 2009

Maybe if Activision wasn't so busy vomiting new versions of Guitar Hero all over the place (what is up to this year alone? 6 new games?) someone might have stopped to think "Maybe this is a bit tasteless. Let's keep Kurt only on the Nirvana songs."

praetus · Sep 2009

It'd be cool to see him in the game but it is weird to think of him singing other peoples stuff, dead or not. I don't even like Nirvana and it just seems kinda off to me.

On a separate note though, I hear that originally they wanted to opt Courtney as a playable character in this game but couldn't figure out how to throw an army of cocks onscreen and pass the ESRB.

Just...you know...what I heard.

MattQ86 · Sep 2009

To be fair most of the cocks in the cock army weren't even hers.

Cthogua · Sep 2009

Eh...he's dead, by his own hand no less, what he would do only exists in the realm of fantasy. What we're stuck with instead, because of his decision, is his junky, ex stripper wife selling his face for more Oxycontin. At the same time...that's the price of fame. Success of that magnitude transforms your image into something cultural, and no longer just personal. Is that fucked up? Sure, but so is everything else about fame. You're no longer a person, you're a product. Obviously it ate at him, but it wasn't like he was such a sunny dude to begin with. Succumbing to hipster angst about success to the point of suicide when you have a wife and a child probably means he wasn't real great with decisions anyway. I suppose that's what bothers me more than the fact that you can play him in a video game like a dead body on the end of some strings...That he's been elevated to the status of a cultural icon for being too hip to allow himself to live with his success. Of course if Courtney did it/set it up/whatever, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out she did....then that changes a lot of things.

I rather like Tool's take on the concept of selling out and hipsterism, from the song "Hooker with a Penis";

So Ive got some
Advice for you, little buddy.
Before you point your finger
You should know that
Im the man,
If Im the fuckin man
Then youre the fuckin man as well
So you can
Point that fuckin finger up your ass.

All you know about me is what Ive sold you,
Dumb fuck.
I sold out long before you ever heard my name.

I sold my soul to make a record,
Dip shit,
And you bought one.

All you read and
Wear or see and
Hear on tv
Is a product
Begging for your
Fatass dirty
Dollar

So...shut up and

Buy my new record
Send more money
Fuck you, buddy.

Sage · Sep 2009

If I was Bon jovi the band, I would have a problem with this too and sue Courtney Love for being a dumb ass. Yeah Activision shouldn't have done that with the singers. So what's next Metallica singing Air Supply songs? Lets not give them ideas.

Mark Dygert · Sep 2009

People are still buying and playing Rock Band?

Justin Meisse · Sep 2009

just picked up The Beatles Rock Band

Steve Schulze · Sep 2009

While I don't have much sympathy for Ms Love, it's worth noting that Grohl and Novaselic have also come out against this business which lends the whole thing a little more legitimacy.

Jesse Moody · Sep 2009

Yeah man Rock Bands still fun. I love getting smashed and then singing like I own the world.

HonkyPunch · Sep 2009

In my opinion, the real issue here is "What the fuck would Cobain think if he was still alive"
In my opinion, that video is scary as fuck, a semi realistic Cobain prancing about the stage with half retarded looking midgets, and singing music by Bon Jovi, who, in my opinion, is one of the most horrible rock groups in the world.

Firebert · Sep 2009

Jesse Moody wrote: »

Yeah man Rock Bands still fun. I love getting smashed and then singing like I own the world.

that's pure awesome :thumbup:

Courtney Love vs Activision

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