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Graffiti Artist Sues Grand Theft Auto Creators
Thanks to EvilAvatar for pointing to an Entertainment Law Digest synopsis about a graffiti artist suing over unauthorized use of his work in Grand Theft Auto III. The article says that "Christopher Ellis asserts that Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive Software copied, used, and distributed his artwork, [made under the name] Daze" in GTA3, and Daze's official website has examples of his work, which was allegedly scanned into Grand Theft Auto's gritty urban environments without his knowledge.
How about we take a poll: Is there anyone out there that doesn't want to sue Take Two or Rockstar games for something? Everyone raise your hands high so we can see them. Nobody? What gives?
- WrexSoul
\/.
vvv
Surely he has given examples somewhere. Can anyone provide the links? This is sort of like a "Man produces largest beer-bottle pyramid" story without a photo. It's intersting, but rather meaningless.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Lots of the textures in both GTA games are photographic. Since there's little to go on from the article (i.e. which graphic and where it came from) I can only hypothesize.
What I think probably happened was they took some photos of graffiti they found and used them as textures. If so, they probably assumed that graffiti artists (in many cases being vandals) aren't going to step forward and take credit for it. In that case, was Take 2 really that much in the wrong? Yeah yeah, his work is in magazines and stuff. But unless there's a copyright notice, I don't think it's all that surprising that they wouldn't have knowna bout it.
Sounds to me like he should have approached them and said "uh that's my art, can I get some compensation for it?" but now it's a legal battle.
As I said, though, there's little to no info. For all I know, Take 2 scanned his work from a magazine and used it. Since the article didn't go into detail, then everybody's own views of Take 2 are going to surface. "Well, even though I've never played it, I know from what CNN tells me that Take 2 makes immoral games. It's therefore logical that they'd have no moral objections to steal some artist's work. Yep, they better lose badly!"
"Derp de derp."
There seems to be a large misconception that all graffiti artists are vandalizing property without prior consent.
Yes, there is a large amount of work that is created by general people who tag anything from subways to bilboards, but 90% of graffiti "artists" actually get city permission to do their work on certain buildings. Some are even commisioned for it.
If you take a look at the guys website, you'll see he's not exactly showing off street signs and railroad cars with his signature scribbled in paint. It looks more like alley ways and school buildings that he was most likely asked to paint or got permission beforehand.
Even assuming that work is legitimate, at what point can the games company be assumed to have made every reasonable effort to contact the creator?
If there is no statement of ownership, no reasonable means of finding out who did create it, the building owners/occupiers no longer have a record, it was created under an untracable alias, etc. At what point can they be considered to have done everything reasonably possible to contact him and get to use it by default? Does there ever come a point where being uncontactable releases copyright?
Also, who owns the copyright? The artist who created the artwork or the owners of the building that he created it "for"? If you had someone paint a mural in your lobby, unless there was a contract - which I'm assuming most graffiti artists don't use - wouldn't the building owners, not the artist, own all further rights?
Have you seen a cop show or MTV video lately? Notice all of those blurs on shirts/hats? Those are usually trademarks or copyrights that they don't want to acquire rights to use. Examples could include a Nike hat, a Simpsons shirt, etc. IIRC, on the Dogma special features Kevin Smith's shirt was blurred on some of his extra stuff, and when he was talking about his original distributor on the commentary it was bleeped out. Intellectual property law is a convoluted subject right now, and most are erring on the side of caution to avoid this kind of lawsuit.
R: That voice. Where have I heard that voice before? B: In about 365 other episodes. But I don't know who it is either.
You don't own any property, do you? If I put a fence up on my side of the property line, how do you get to decide what color it should be? Do you get to paint a side of my house, just because it faces yours? What about my car? Are you allowed to spray it as I drive by? Can you rip off my clothes if they displease you? Where does it end?
And exactly which walls belong to "all of us"? If there were any such walls, wouldn't "all of us" get to have a say on what's put there? What if "all of us" don't like how some people "express themselves"? Isn't not liking something just another way of expressing oneself, and a valid point of view by your reasoning?
A wall belongs to whomever owns the property. If it's the government, then only duly appointed officials can determine what is allowed on the wall. A public space does not mean anarchy rules it. If anything, rules are strictly enforced to attempt to give everyone as equal use as possible. By definition that means that some won't be allowed to do everything they want - whether it's play extremely loud music, have an orgy in public, or paint walls they didn't pay to build or maintain. These rules are defined by the current status quo - it was once unthinkable for women to show their ankles, or for certain people to use public drinking fountains. When public opinion sways to the point that anyone can paint any wall they choose, then maybe you'll have a point.
If the "graffiti artist" was granted permission by the owner to paint it, then he's essentially the same as any other hired artist. If he didn't have permission, then he'd just be another vandal.
R: That voice. Where have I heard that voice before? B: In about 365 other episodes. But I don't know who it is either.
How about instead of sounding all high and mighty about graffiti art, you go and actually check out this guys art gallery? If you had, (you know, the whole RTFA thing?), you'd see that he has five galleries, one of which is of subway cars, which is definitely a no-no in New York City. Remember the whole Clean Car program? He does have a gallery of commissioned work, which gives his some credit, but there is no question as to whether or not he is a "person who vandalizes property that doesn't belong to them costing the city money to clean up their crap." HE IS. The proof is there for anyone to see on this guy's website!
I admit, I've seen some graffiti that enhanced, rather than detracted from the environs, but you'll be hard pressed to find ANY graffiti artist who hasn't at one time or another "published art" without permission...
Soon I will release my protection^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H licensing plan for GTA users so they can use the game legally without fear of being sued for copyright infringement. Stay tuned for details.