In the wake of a wave of Courtney Love’s bombastic vitriol over the appearance of her late husband in Guitar Hero 5, Activision tells Kotaku that she was the one who signed the agreement for the deal.
“Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero 5,” Activision told Kotaku today.
Last night Love posted on her Twitter account that she and Cobain’s Estate were going to sue “the shit out of Activision”. She went on to write: “For the record this Guitar Hero shit is breach of contract on a Bullys part and there will be a proper addressing of this and retraction.”
Later that night Love added that while she had looked at an avatar for Cobain, she had asked the developers to “show her a better avatar to drag my heels,” adding that she never intended to allow Cobain to appear in the game.
We’ve contacted Love’s personal manager and the agency who handles her interviews, but have not yet heard back.
Patrick Young
Friday, September 11, 2009 at 7:32 AMRegardless of what she signed, you think Activision would’ve known wat they were doing and how stupid it was.
I think it’s unfair to blame this on Courtney. You can bet nobody told her that Cobain’s character would be able to play Du Hast.
Flux
Friday, September 11, 2009 at 12:14 PMDo I get bonus points for calling it like this in the initial post last night? Courtney should have done her research before accepting the royalty cheque, it’s not as though the frontman avatars playing other artists’ tracks is new to GH5. Had she turned on a single copy of the game, just to see what it was like, she would have known that this was what she was signing up for. It seems clear she didn’t.
It’s not Activision’s job to be looking out for the wishes and legacy of Kurt Cobain, it’s Courtney’s.
Aaron Clement
Friday, September 11, 2009 at 9:14 AMOne can only hope that Activision rubs some salt in by releasing the Bloodhound Gang’s “Lift your head up high and blow your brains out” as DLC.
Flux
Friday, September 11, 2009 at 12:34 PMOr that old M*A*S*H theme song: “Suicide is Painless”…
HSB
Friday, September 11, 2009 at 9:46 AMWhat a cow.
mambodog
Friday, September 11, 2009 at 12:07 PMIts time for her to become An Hero as well.
Kato
Friday, September 11, 2009 at 12:48 PMGuitar Hero 5 isn’t the disgrace to Cobain’s legacy, Courtney Love is.
j
Friday, September 11, 2009 at 1:26 PMI dunno what the law is in America, but I’m pretty sure here (Australia), remembering back to the early years of my law degree, you can’t sue on behalf of a dead person, and you can’t own rights in a person’s likeness…