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Church Threatens Legal Action Over Sony Game

Posted by Zonk on from the hot-under-the-collar dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Church of England is threatening legal action against Sony over the game Resistance: Fall of Man. The game features a shootout in Manchester Cathedral, and the Church claims that Sony did not ask permission to use the interior of the Cathedral in the game. The Bishop of Manchester called the game 'highly irresponsible' due to the history of gun crime in the city. Sony denies the charge — a spokesman said 'We believe we have sought and received all permissions necessary for the creation of the game.'"

3 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. This is a major news story in the UK by Gossi · · Score: 3, Informative

    I've no idea why, but this is the lead front page story on news.bbc.co.uk, and was the lead news story on the last summary I saw on TV! I can't even figure what what law the church could sue Sony with in the UK.

  2. Sony used Times Square too... by Mr_Blank · · Score: 3, Informative
    Sony has been sued for similar things before, and won. Remember the Times Square was used in the first Spiderman flick? http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/04/14/203207

    The verdict...

    From http://news.com.com/2100-1023-948441.html

    "Spider-Man" can alter Times Square
    By Lisa M. Bowman
    Staff Writer, CNET News.com
    Published: August 5, 2002, 12:28 PM PDT

    Upholding the rights of filmmakers to superimpose digital images on real-life buildings in their movies, a federal judge in New York has thrown out a suit filed by billboard and building owners against the creators of the "Spider-Man" movie.

    In a three-page ruling issued last week, Judge Richard Owen questioned claims that altering the billboards in the movies violated trademarks and amounted to trespassing.

    Several billboard and building owners, including Sherwood 48 Associates and Super Sign, filed suit in April against Sony and other companies involved in making and distributing "Spider-Man," claiming their prime Times Square space becomes less valuable if they can't guarantee customers exclusive rights both on and off screen. In the "Spider-Man" movie and trailers, ads for companies such as Cingular Wireless and USA Today have been superimposed over those of Samsung and NBC.

    The judge disagreed with the billboard owners' claims, however, saying the digital alterations are protected free speech. "What exists here is for artistic purposes a mixture of a fictionally and actually depicted Times Square...this has First Amendment protection," Owen wrote.

  3. Re:bang bang by Rasgueado · · Score: 3, Informative

    From my understanding, Sony did not design this game. Everyone likes to blame Sony for all the problems in the world (including myself), but this game was made by Insomniac. Sony did approve of the game for distribution, but they certainly had nothing to do with the creative process. Comments such as "What were Sony thinking when they made this" are quite irresponsibe in my opinion...