Video game blogs and message boards have been debating the appropriateness of Kurt Cobain’s posthumous inclusion as a playable character in the recently released Guitar Hero 5. Some think it’s a welcome tribute, others find it a bit creepy if not outright distasteful.
But what does Cobain’s widow Courtney Love think? Well, one needs look no further than her Twitter account:
For the record this Guitar Hero [expletive] is breach of contract on a Bullys part and there will be a proper addressing of this and retraction. WE are going to sue the [expletive] out of Activision we being the Trust the Estate the LLC the various LLCs Cobain Enterprises.
While Love’s main gripe seems to be the appearance of Cobain’s character model and a feature that allows it to perform other artist’s songs, Activision Vice President Tim Riley told The Guardian that she was very cooperative in the creation of the game:
Courtney supplied us with photos and videos. She picked the wardrobe and hairstyle, which turned out to be the 'Teen Spirit' look, then we went back and forth over changes – some subtle, some not so subtle.
Love, for her part, doesn’t seem to agree:
Activision is fulllo f sh*t... i never intended to APPROVE this sh*t, they are doing a recall you can be sure of that… wait til you see what my lovely lawyer has cooked up, i never ever signed off on this.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that surviving Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl are also unhappy with the use of Cobain’s likeness:
While we were aware of Kurt's image being used with two Nirvana songs, we didn't know players have the ability to unlock the character. This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in 're-locking' Kurt's character so that this won't continue in the future.
Activision defended itself in a statement released Thursday, saying that it “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.”
-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics Senior Correspondent Andrew Eisen…
Comments
Re: Courtney Love Threatens Guitar Hero 5 Lawsuit Over Kurt ...
Actually it might. Mental incapacatation has been used as grounds to anul a contract, usually marrage contracts but what the hell.
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
Re: Courtney Love Threatens Guitar Hero 5 Lawsuit Over Kurt ...
Any incapacitation which would function to render a party incapable of giving their informed consent to an agreement - from intoxication to mental retardation - can be a possible basis to nullify an agreement.
Re: Courtney Love Threatens Guitar Hero 5 Lawsuit Over Kurt ...
At which point the court will argue that she can work twitter and have the mental capacity to attempt to sue others, which doesn't denote mental retardation, even if it still makes her a moron.
Re: Courtney Love Threatens Guitar Hero 5 Lawsuit Over Kurt ...
You know... Activision COULD be lying, that's a possibility.
But even if they were (and I doubt it), why the hell would I care what Courtney Love thinks about it if she thinks the only place reporting on it that'll matter is her fucking Twitter? Nevermind the lack of professionalism besides, if they have her signature, it's fucking over.
Re: Courtney Love Threatens Guitar Hero 5 Lawsuit Over Kurt ...
Why would Activision lie about having a sign and legal bounding document. I mean, they would have to produce such a document in order to defeat the lawsuit, so it would be useless to lie about it.
Re: Courtney Love Threatens Guitar Hero 5 Lawsuit Over Kurt ...
To me it seems she is implying she signed off on the likeness, but she thought it was for only the Nirvana songs. Whereas Activision seems to be saying the contract was for all songs.
Could she have been intentionally duped? Plausible.
Could she have simply not been paying enough attention to what she was signing away? Much more probable.
Perhaps a bit of both.
Re: Courtney Love Threatens Guitar Hero 5 Lawsuit Over Kurt ...
My point is that if Courtney wanted to make such a claim (a possibility, but again, we know they're not), she would have had the good sense not to post it on Twitter like anybody was going to take her seriously. She should have at least had the sense to be coherent and civil about it...
... Who am I kidding, this is Courtney Love, innit.