MJ Estate to PopCap: Character's Likeness is Off the Wall

July 27, 2010

You can’t fight city hall. Apparently it’s not too smart (or cost-efficient) to take on the estate of Michael Jackson either, as PopCap Games has modified a character in its Plants vs. Zombies game for the iPhone which formerly closely resembled the late, great gloved-one.

MTV got word from PopCap themselves that MJ’s estate was none too thrilled with the game’s Dancing Zombie, which was outfitted in a red jacket, short pants and white socks, resembling the way Jackson appears in his in-famous Thriller video. The Dancing Zombie is now said to feature more of a disco-themed look.

PopCap issued MTV the follow statement:

The Estate of Michael Jackson objected to our use of the 'dancing zombie' in PLANTS vs. ZOMBIES based on its view that the zombie too closely resembled Michael Jackson. After receiving this objection, PopCap made a business decision to retire the original 'dancing zombie' and replace it with a different 'dancing zombie' character for future builds of PLANTS vs.ZOMBIES on all platforms. The phase-out and replacement process is underway.

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Comments

Re: MJ Estate to PopCap: Character's Likeness is Off the ...

Submitted by deuxhero on Thu, 07/29/2010 - 08:59.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzKbz1DxuRE

Best keep them away from Shin Megami Tensei 2.

Re: MJ Estate to PopCap: Character's Likeness is Off the ...

Submitted by Vany on Wed, 07/28/2010 - 11:39.

"MJ’s estate was none too thrilled"

I see what you did there.

Re: MJ Estate to PopCap: Character's Likeness is Off the ...

Submitted by omikron48 on Tue, 07/27/2010 - 18:46.

So caricatures of any famous people are not allowed anymore?

Re: MJ Estate to PopCap: Character's Likeness is Off the ...

Submitted by killatia on Tue, 07/27/2010 - 18:57.

If the lawyers has anything to say about it its a yes, otherwise nope its still allowed.

http://www.magicinkgaming.com/

Re: MJ Estate to PopCap: Character's Likeness is Off the ...

Submitted by Yammo on Wed, 07/28/2010 - 02:48.

And lawyers are puppets to money alone...
...not law/morals/common sense or anything normal people see as humane.

I piss on the Jacksson family... Michael was a genious, the rest of the family
is nothing but a bunch of no-skill leechers. This is only yet another wanking
attempt from them to make money. Had they had any talents, what-so-ever
they wouldn't have had to humiliate themselves with things like this.

Re: MJ Estate to PopCap: Character's Likeness is Off the ...

Submitted by Kalerender on Tue, 07/27/2010 - 18:52.

Never has been to make money, and once the person is dead the people in control of that person's estate generally get pretty angsty where someone is profiting of something they feel they own. Basically it can be argued that because their likeness is so recognisable, any use of that reflects back to them and may directly harm their ability to make a living from said likeness.

It's a bizarrely stupid system.

Re: MJ Estate to PopCap: Character's Likeness is Off the ...

Submitted by hellfire7885 on Tue, 07/27/2010 - 15:50.

I doubt it was in Michael's will that this tribute to him be ordered to be taken down. They're just going to go after more.

It's no disrespectful, it's a tribute. All this did was make what was meant to be a funny moment lame.

Re: MJ Estate to PopCap: Character's Likeness is Off the ...

Submitted by tacc on Tue, 07/27/2010 - 15:43.

Seriously...

Shout box

PHX Corp: http://www.gamezone.com/news/2013/05/20/violent-video-games-are-bad-for-your-body Most rediclous Study about violent video games ever05/20/2013 - 10:13am

Cecil475: @PHX Corp - The dude's a moron who wouldn't know crap if it came up and kicked him.05/19/2013 - 6:36am

PHX Corp: http://kotaku.com/ea-sports-developer-calls-wii-u-crap-and-nintendo-wa-508481261 EA Sports Canada Moron calls Wii U 'Crap' and Nintendo 'Walking Dead'05/18/2013 - 11:42am

E. Zachary Knight: If the videos are of sufficient quality that people subscribe and watch regularly, then those let's players are providing a service that people want. That is the heart of capitalism. That is not something that should be shamed.05/17/2013 - 8:06am

E. Zachary Knight: I have no idea who either of those people are. However, I still don't see why making a business out of creating let's play videos is somehow evil or wrong.05/17/2013 - 8:04am

MaskedPixelante: It sure is if you're just doing it for the money. See Tobuscus and/or Pewdiepie for what happens when people get into it just for the money.05/17/2013 - 7:30am

E. Zachary Knight: Why is it wrong to make money doing LPs? Why should that be something that should be shamed?05/17/2013 - 6:20am

MaskedPixelante: https://twitter.com/PsychedelicSA/status/335183893214924801 Now here's an interesting, glass half full thought about the Nintendo LP thing. It outs the people who are just doing LPs to make money.05/17/2013 - 5:56am

E. Zachary Knight: I responded in writing to all this "let's play" stuff Nintendo Started. No need for my permission, I won't give it. It's not mine to give. http://divineknightgaming.com/?p=29205/16/2013 - 2:21pm

E. Zachary Knight: Lars Doucet of Levelup Labs has a Reddit going on game companies that allow monetization of Let's Play videos. http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1egayn/lets_build_a_list_of_game_studios_that_allow/05/16/2013 - 1:04pm

Sleaker: @Imautobot - yah I wouldn't use an emulator as a good first run test of how stable the console is, haha.05/16/2013 - 11:47am

E. Zachary Knight: The 50th person to jump off a bridge is just as dumb if not dumber than the 1st.05/16/2013 - 10:03am

MaskedPixelante: Yeah, let's all jump on Nintendo for doing this, even though they're hardly the first company to do this...05/16/2013 - 9:47am

E. Zachary Knight: Wow Nintendo, this is wrong. http://kotaku.com/nintendo-forcing-ads-on-some-youtube-lets-play-video-50709238305/16/2013 - 8:44am

Imautobot: @Sleaker, further gameplay has revealed that the controller button do stick under the faceplate. Also, The NES emulator (Emuya)keeps crashing on me, though I think a bad ROM is causing it.05/16/2013 - 7:10am

Papa Midnight: AE: I wonder if any other publishers will follow suit.05/15/2013 - 8:12pm

Andrew Eisen: EA is ditching Online Pass. http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/15/ea-kills-its-controversial-online-pass-program/05/15/2013 - 7:20pm

Avalongod: @Zach and quicnkold...I've read the bill and the intent of it is to fear-monger. It's not a balanced message. I don't recall the ESRB being mentioned at all. It's more "keeps your kids away from these movies/games or they'll become violent"05/15/2013 - 4:35pm

E. Zachary Knight: quiknkold, The big problem with that legislation is the amount of misinformation out there. Who is going to ensure that the information in the pamphlet is accurate?05/15/2013 - 3:25pm

quiknkold: REBeardogg : I'm on the fence about this. on one side, I want parents to be aware of the ESRB, and even Movie Ratings. On the other hand, I feel this will be used for nothing but Propaganda. The ESRB does a good job.05/15/2013 - 3:07pm

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