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.

Posted in Games & Culture iPhone Zombies

Comments

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

Submitted by deuxhero on Thu, 07/29/2010 - 09:59.

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 - 12:39.

"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 - 19:46.

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 - 19:57.

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 - 03:48.

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 - 19:52.

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 - 16:50.

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 - 16:43.

Seriously...

Shout box

Guamish: I think it is in good hands. Tim did a game for the GDC award show and that was fun for how short it was.02/10/2012 - 12:22pm

Andrew Eisen: It'll be tragic if the game ultimately sucks.02/10/2012 - 12:17pm

james_fudge: $1.3 million02/10/2012 - 11:32am

Uncharted NES: Germany Says It Won't Sign ACTA [Update: ... Yet]- http://tinyurl.com/7r2twrg02/10/2012 - 11:21am

Andrew Eisen: Damn. Double Fine's Kickstarter fund has already passed a million dollars.02/09/2012 - 8:16pm

Andrew Eisen: Audrey didn't quote the sassy parts. Here's IGN's article: http://wii.ign.com/articles/121/1218359p1.html And here's my original post: http://tinyurl.com/7y68a3902/09/2012 - 7:50pm

james_fudge: I hope you some said something sassy! Where's the link?02/09/2012 - 7:46pm

Andrew Eisen: Hey, neat. IGN quoted a blog I had writen only two hours earlier. I certainly timed that one pretty well.02/09/2012 - 7:38pm

Andrew Eisen: Toki Tori has been added to the Humble Bundle for Android.02/09/2012 - 5:11pm

james_fudge: Thanks for the heads-up DorthLous02/09/2012 - 4:33pm

DorthLous: Will do, my apologies.02/09/2012 - 4:14pm

Andrew Eisen: I appreciate the heads up but please keep typo alerts to the specific article's comments or PMs.02/09/2012 - 3:33pm

DorthLous: The title says 30, but in the article, the developer says it's like a 20% net tax http://www.gamepolitics.com/2012/02/09/developers-call-facebook-currency-transaction-fee-thirty-percent-tax02/09/2012 - 2:43pm

Uncharted NES: If they actually release Final Fantasy XI for PlayStation Vita, then I will consider buying one.02/09/2012 - 12:13pm

Uncharted NES: Customers Petition Apple to End Worker Abuse with 250,000 signatures- http://tinyurl.com/6vpuom202/09/2012 - 11:28am

Uncharted NES: And in non-BREAKING news, Kotaku commentators can be real jerks.02/09/2012 - 11:22am

Andrew Eisen: Huh, saw that in the paper last Friday (or possibly over the weekend). Sad to say but people missing that long usually turn up dead. Sure hope that isn't the case.02/09/2012 - 2:12am

Andrew Eisen: I don't believe so. As I hear it, it's just a week-long promotion.02/09/2012 - 2:10am

Uncharted NES: Nintendo Employee Reported "Missing"- http://m.kotaku.com/5883562/nintendo-employee-reported-missing02/09/2012 - 1:50am

Uncharted NES: @andrew Hopefully it's the permanent price, though I'm not planning to upgrade anytime soon.02/09/2012 - 1:44am

All shouts

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