November 19, 2007
Several readers have alerted us to a developing legal situation involving Ubisoft and the Something Awful website.Apparently an SA forum user posted a link to a pornographic parody cartoon based on game designer Jade Raymond (left), who has been Ubi's point person for the highly anticipated new Xbox 360 title, Assassin's Creed.
Ubisoft's attorney demanded that the offending image be removed and the identity of the person posting it be turned over. Something Awful owner Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka posted a response indicating that the image was only linked to, not hosted on, his site.
It is unclear where the case will proceed from here.
GP: We've checked out the cartoon; it's quite vile. Can't blame Ubi or Ms. Raymond for reacting strongly... On the other hand it may enjoy fair use protection as a parody.
Comments
PLL is dumb and like mobing things they don't like.
Personally I don't find that much wrong with it other than the game in question is not so bad it needs free BJ's to sell it :P
Lets save that for Jericho!
saw the comic and its just that a comic, it has no bearing on real life. I dont think ubisoft have a leg to stand on here.
Im sure jade will get over it.
Well said!
i find it a little more tasteless thatat Jade "look, i have boobs so buy my gam" Raymond's vagina apparently is a very important factor in whether or not Assassin's Creed is a good game. According to Ubisoft, this is so.
to that end, the comic makes its point (even though it's not terribly funny about it). can't AC be a good game on its own merit without knowing what faceless monkey produced the game?
And I'm right!
"The very notion that she is only in the fore-front because of her sex appeal is sexist at the core, especially when you take her skills in account."
I agree! That's why I'm not arguing that's the case!
Take sensational things like "only" out of the equation and we can actually talk like equals in this debate.
I've got enough lawyers on my back for one week.
:-)
I’ve got enough lawyers on my back for one week.
:-)
good one;)
This woman talks about an excellant game and she gets put into a shitty cartoon. Now that is anal.
kthxbye.
Because they can and they want to.
That being said, while I feel bad for Ms Raymond and I'm a little sad at how much this highlights sexual biases in our culture, the comic was clearly a parody, so I'm not sure it's worth Ubi's time to try suing people. It's basically just a political cartoon that happens to be very graphic in its approach.
I used to read it, then it stopped being funny, then he stopped updating..
He was always an asshole, and I think he is just desperate for page views since he lost most of his readership.
Hes also rather proud of himself for the controversy.
Honestly if his ass got sued I wouldn't be that upset.
I often wonder why people get mad and go out and give trouble makers the attention they crave on silver platter through lawsuits, calling for boycotts, etc.
All this said, maybe Dennis should take a page from Lawtax's book in his dealings with Thompson. His "legal reply" to the lawsuit is pretty priceless.
GP: no links on this story, thx
its somewhere where buried in the digg
Its not a direct link and to the dig posting thus "safe",if one is mature enoguh to handle cum/blow job jokes its rather immature humor but still made me giggle, really tho how else do bad games sell BJ's and zombie gamers of coarse!
BTW From what I have played of AC its not hat bad,not a 50$+ game either tho >>
waiting on the PC version to pop up before 'llI dig into it.
GP: no links on this story, thx
really?
I think this commentary on how some games get sold to the public.
try buying new games at full price and realize you and others are getting raped by the wallet for short mediocre games, on a scale of 1-10 its a 6-7 they could have done much worse.
no, i'm not american.
I found the source and original creator of the cartoon in question in less than three minutes.
As for the comic itself, I think it’s pretty well done. The art is attractive, cute even, and it has something to say. I’m not sure what people are so upset about.
I mean, it’s a drawing people. Relax. All the Ubi lawyers are doing is drawing more attention to the comic (I would never have seen it otherwise) and making themselves look stupid by sending a cease and desist to the owner of a website where some guy linked to the comic in the forums. That’s kind of like when the ESA got in a huff with Kotaku when they wrote about that “your mom’s rated E for everyone” t-shirt.
By the by, it’s totally cool if Raymond or anyone else finds the comic offensive and disgusting. That’s fine. Still, the creator is expressing an opinion and doing it in an artistic fashion. I’ll always be okay with that even if the work in question offends my sensibilities down to the core.
Andrew Eisen
Yes I know what it actually is.
Maybe I'm a not looking at the situation subjectively, maybe its just a personal grudge against the artist.
He made the comic based off this article.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/rumor-smash/jade-in-green-and-
white-striped-bikini-320260.php
Though if his stupid ass actually read the article he would have noticed something else. But that has never been his style. No he did it sheerly to piss people off and be offensive.
From his current news post he seems to think hes hot shit, as I stated earlier hes rather proud of himself because he "Made Jade Cry".
I might be able to see more humor if I actually thought jade was just a pretty face to promote a shitty game.
gee you must ate southpark, the humor it goes over your head....
His humor is crass but not always devoid of a point, can you really say this is his worst work yet?
:P
http://www.gamepoliticsforums.com/showthread.php?p=55603#post55603
well South park dose have 99.9% more wit :P
I just don't get it...I seen the comic myself it's pretty bad but the comic seems to imply she's whoring her public image to get people to "buy her game"....
Heh....I might want to try it if I have a 360 or something...
Ubisoft needs smarter lawyers who actually understand the law and are smart enough to use google to see just who they're messing with.
You mean like these? http://www.somethingawful.com/d/legal-threats/index.php
(and i quote)
From: Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka (webmaster@somethingawful.com)
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 9:06 PM
To: 'Anderson, David'
Cc: A BUNCH OF FRENCHIES
Subject: RE: NOTICE: Infringement of ASSASSIN'S CREED Mark and Jade Raymond's Personal, Privacy, and Publicity Rights
Please let it be known that hereforth I have read the express mail and email sent thereforth by Famous Lawyer David Anderson of the Famous Lawyer Law Business of Nixon Peabody LLP, and furthermore a declaration shall be expressed on the part of Internet User Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka that thatforth herethrough I have conducted rigorous tests implemented through a vigorous barrage of legal studies, and furthermore hitherthrough these rigorous tests have therefore proven Famous Lawyer David Anderson of the Famous Lawyer Law Business of Nixon Peabody LLP shall be recognized as a man of the fag persuasion.
Pursuant to the United Dairy Council
Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka
Internet
Regardless of whether the cartoon is tasteful or not, the silliest thing to do was draw attention to it, basically, if Ubisoft are going to use hormones as a sales tool, they should not be surprised with one or two reactions such as this.
However, I wonder if the comic is meant to attack not only Jade but also fanboys who have given her so much attention? Almost certainly the comic says more about the crudeness and tendency to objectify women that is all too common to certain segments of the gaming community than it does about Jade.
It has already been stated: Something Awful has come up against legal threats before, and came out victorious (in the ones they post). Who knows if they pick which battles to post, leaving out the ones they know they will lose.
They've posted this threat on their site because they are not the creators of the image, nor do they host it. Also, situationally and morally, I do think the image has crossed a line simply because the target does not deserve the humiliation of the image.
It is hard enough for a female to get a job (and keep it) in the game industry. She doesn't need this.
On one hand. People are making the argument that it's a legitimate parody of Ubi-Soft's tactics. That they're somehow calling attention to Jade's attractiveness. I don't quite understand that. It's true I've seen interviews with Jade here and there, but never anything that I would call unexpected or inappropriate. She's been out, promoting the game she's been working on for years, how is that unusual? It's true, it is a little unusual to see a woman helming a game like Assassin's Creed, and I've definitely thought that; but it's not like they're highlighting turn-on's and turn-off's and walks on the beach. It's always been about the game. I guess what I'm trying to say is I wonder why parody is warranted, I haven't seen Jade or Ubi do anything that hasn't been done a thousand times before on all manner of other games. I think I'm a little irritated in that sense actually, I can't help but wonder if there would have been a parody at all of her if she'd been a man.
I think I'll stay away from the links actually. Think I'd rather just not see it.
Unfortunately for Ms. Raymond, by stepping out into public to speak about the game she has given up the privacy that would have protected her. She is part of the public sphere now, and she will need to develope a thick skin. I suspect that there are other comics being written in response to this controversy that will make this one seem mild. These are the interwebs after all, and I thought the comic was a pretty good blend of the internet memes of webcomics, pr0n, and video games. It wasn't funny, but it wasn'tvile either.