About his original photos, Toledano said this, “I wanted to take portraits of people that would reveal a hidden part of their character. So I had them play video games.”
The PS3 Slim Sony campaign is called “Play Face” and currently features celebrities.
Kotaku contacted Toledano about the PS3 campaign. His reply: “It pretty much looks like they happily ripped me off…”
Sony has launched an official website for the campaign and is even planning on photographing regular gamers in Tokyo and Osaka as they play through PS3 titles. These photos will be uploaded to the Play Face site, were users can vote for their favourites.
This certainly does not seem like a parody of Toledano, but, as the artist pointed out, a rip-off. We’re venturing into legal territory here, folks.
Jay
Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 11:51 PMLegal territory. OMG.
Get over it.
So they took your idea. You don’t own it. It promotes who you are and your previous work. Congrats if anything!
And hey, its still within gaming right? It’s not like Beyonce took your idea. =) Now that would give you something to whinge about.
MaXX
Friday, August 21, 2009 at 12:18 AMWhy do people want to claim to be artists and yet still be concerned with stuff as petty as this?
Not to mention a real artist understands that true parody and satire requires direct representations of original material..
And that social views on this really only changed because peole like Disney didnt want other people drawing Mickey naked..
Deadlydorito
Friday, August 21, 2009 at 1:15 AMDont want to be a sony hater, (i has a ps3!!) but i hope this photographer sues them real bad. Stealing ideas…. silly sony D:
Sekheret
Friday, August 21, 2009 at 1:25 AMHe should sue the pants of those money grubbing scumbags…
Collision
Friday, August 21, 2009 at 7:37 AMWouldn’t be a Sony ad if didn’t cause MASSIVE controversy.
MaXX
Friday, August 21, 2009 at 8:26 AMSo whenever someone takes photos of people playing video games in the future, and focusses on their faces, they will have to pay royalties?
What are you high?
Im just going to point out that people have been putting together images of other peoples heads for quite a while, even while doing things!
Also, art and culture is commonly adopted by society, AND IS MEANT TO.
This guys upset that his art was or more to the point, not AS successful as he wouldve liked financially.
Blah2
Friday, August 21, 2009 at 8:52 AMWOW NO ONE HAS EVER VIDEO TAPED THEMSELVES PLAYING A GAME BEFORE (YOUTUBELOL).
MasterCyl
Friday, August 21, 2009 at 8:55 AMWhat? Taking photo’s of people is now legal territory?
I did this at a LAN years ago, should I be suing too?
rui
Friday, August 21, 2009 at 9:36 AM@ Deadlydorito
Dont want to be a sony hater, (i has a ps3!!) but i hope this photographer sues them real bad. Stealing ideas…. silly sony D:
yeah stealing ideas is bad, we should ask microsoft about that they know a whole lot about un-originality..shhheesss
i didnt know i have to check the copyright offices for photographing people playing and capturing the moment
E
Friday, August 21, 2009 at 9:39 AMparticulars… you can explore the same idea of filming people who are playing, but when you start doing it in the almost the same way as someone else then it starts getting problematic.
One could argue Sony ripped off artist Robbie Cooper as well, who took photos and videos of childrens playing vid games, but he was exploring the kid’s reactions / additive nature of games…etc
Interestingly Cooper also did a more mature version of this ‘immersion’ project filming adults watching err.. intimate movies.
Arash Mohebbi
Friday, August 21, 2009 at 10:33 AMthis is a dodgy thing, but not as dodgy as advertising mogul Charles Saatchi allegedly being a big style patron of the arts… when all he really wants is artists ideas to rip off for his ad campaigns. It’s even worse that the art he rips aint that good to begin with?
I say MEH to this silly story.
Kyle Sanderson
Friday, August 21, 2009 at 1:00 PMAnyone remember the ps2 online ads where people climbed into a giant pyramid to what I think was a Shirley Temple song?
Xbox had several ads in the same style a year or two later, with the sepia toned city and the old timey music, The water balloon one springs to mind.
Since then many other companies have done very similar ads too.
Everyone rips of everyone lol.
Inon
Friday, August 21, 2009 at 1:29 PMUnless the guy patented/copyrighted the idea, I’d imagine it’d be pretty tricky to make it stick in court. Photographing someone playing a videogame would be a fairly difficult thing to claim ownership of.
Still, some of the attitudes towards IP in this thread make me understand why so many (nearly all) talented artists turn their skills to advertising.
Jay
Friday, August 21, 2009 at 6:36 PMPerhaps Sony should FILM the gamers instead! Oh that would solve so much! This artist is pathetic and clearly wanting attention, well he got it! and It’s just made him look like a reeeeeal douche.
Hey, while we’re talking about copying ideas. Then Indiana Jones can sue Lara Croft & Nathan Drake right?
chuie
Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 12:17 AMI doubt there’ll be any ‘legal action’. However if Sony’s ads were inspired by this artist then he really should have been acknowledged at the very least. If not then happy days!
MrSheffield
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 1:20 PMwouldn’t be the first time sony jacked somebody else’s creative property.
they pulled a similar stunt with a recent bravia campaign:
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/10/10/sony-bravia-ad-rips.html