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Kurt Cobain on Guitar Hero.
Last month, the video gaming company Activision released its fifth Guitar Hero title. Controversy soon followed, as players discovered that a character modeled on deceased Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain could be made to move and sing in ways the real Cobain would never have done. Today, we hear from entertainment lawyer Jon Reichman and pop critic Ann Powers on the rights of dead musicians, and discuss what current artists can do to protect their legacies.
Tell us: Can the use of a dead artist's likeness or work ever go too far? Give us examples of uses that you liked or disliked.
Tell us: Can the use of a dead artist's likeness or work ever go too far? Give us examples of uses that you liked or disliked.
Comments [18]
What about Michael Jackson buying rights to the beatles? Paul Mcartney told him about buying the rights to music, so he bought the beatles out from under him.. What right does michael jackson have to put beatles songs all over.. i hear so many beatles songs and tunes advertising garbage.. and it's not always the cheesy pop-type ones (which i dont mind).. i'm particularly offended when i hear a song that used to connect me to a certain person or event fondly used to peddle cheap garbage on tv... i dunno.. just had to vent..
Speaking of Michael Jackson, I just saw a horrendous ad for Party City earlier tonight featuring a bunch of lame dancers in costumes dancing to Thriller. Not only were they using MJ's song to hock their honestly, crappy costumes, but they had children and 'parents' doing the moves from the video equally badly. It was a bit embarrassing in general
i personaly dont like all this sneaking around that ms.c.love did,by not informing the rest of the band.i personaly do not know the legal matter of all this.
As for Kobain, et al... it's silly to second guess whether or not an artist would approve. We will never know (though try to imagine Mozart's feelings about being avatarred onto a Salieri performance). Artists devote their lives and their hearts and souls to their work, and it's appropriate to respect that as a base principle.
If Guitar Hero and other similar programs allow us to play with peopl's images, at the very least an avatar should have some indication (something equivalent to a watermark on DVDs) that identifies it as inauthentic.
And just by the way, honestly, I've always thought that the Natalie Cole/Nat King Cole recording was vaguely creepy... and even though Natalie's a lovely singer, the "duet" waters down the pure beauty of the original.
Ann, "oove of work" is both a mispronunciation and a redundancy...
In all honesty, who cares? This discussion is ultimately about pop artsists who clearly wanted exposure to the world and even realized when they were alive there is just so much they could have done to control their image.
If anyone was truly this sensitive and upset about misuse they would have not gone down the pop-star route. And honestly, isn't there a long history of pop-artists using stage names to assure that their real life name was not connected to the tenuously controlled public persona?
What about estates like that of Richard Wagner, whose children and grandchildren have fought over his legacy for generations. Some of the inheritors like to remake Wagner with crazy radical opera productions, others prefer the mean old, anti-semitic Wagner. How do you handle a legacy when the next generation can't agree?
I thought there was nothing sadder than seeing George and John smirking as they followed that parade of Banana Republic models across Abbey Road. All this cheapens the music w/ an interactive commercial. Take a lesson from Neil Young or Bruce don't sell your music.
I think part of why Kurt Cobain committed suicide was that he was disenfranchised by the world, and especially the entertainment part of world. I heard that he really struggled with his popular image. I don't know if he would have distinguished all that much between the integrity of his image as expressed through Entertainment Tonight vs Guitar Hero. I think he would have been upset with the way Courtney Love has capitalized on his image in this and other ways. On the other hand, I could see him not caring either.
and these games should be banned because people should be playing REAL instruments. this is ridiculous.
The rights were already given for his likeness to be used in a video game. When you step back and look at it, it's a bunch of pixels not a living testament of his views and opinions.
Agreed, Jason.
wow, that guy that just called saying he has no rights because he killed himself and "obviously didnt care" has got to be the dumbest thing i have heard all year.
This other Ann Powers blog is really kind of interesting. It's at girlonthebrink.com.
Thanks, Ann Powers.
you speak of Kurt Cobain and Good Taste in the same sentence?
It's funny AND offensive.
Images are more ephemeral than ever.
Can I get "Kurt Cobain" to sing Irene Cara's "Fame"?
Why do companies use dead celebrities to promote their products?
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