The Blast has found a litigation paper from Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations to Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, accusing the developers of making use of the agency’s name without permission, and damages to their reputation.
Pinkerton alleged that “in the 1870s the agency worked with law enforcement to apprehend famous criminals across the country”, and that Rockstar Games “is likely to blur the distinctive character and tarnish the reputation of Pinkerton’s famous trademarks.”
Pinkerton sent a cease-and-desist letter to Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, but they also stated their will to settle, but they will take Rockstar Games to court for copyright infringement if negotiations fails.
Rockstar Games’ claims that their actions are within First Amendment rights, this is Rockstar Games’ defense against Pinkertons’s allegations:
“The game’s reference to the historical Pinkerton National Detective Agency and its agents is but one of a myriad of ways that Red Dead 2 accurately portrays the historical Nineteenth Century American landscape”
Red Dead Redemption is a “historically accurate videogame set in the Wild West in the late 1800s” … “historical references are woven into the fabric of the game at every level.”
Rockstar Games’ defense is solid, the First Amendment of the United States of America gives freedom to speech to those who wants to share an opinion, so by doing Rockstar generating revenue from Red Dead Redemption 2 had maybe lost their protection in the First Amendment as Rockstar didn’t wrote an historical book, it’s a videogame and it’s meant for entertainment, even if the publisher says it’s historical and educational it’s hard to probe that to the Supreme Court. In the following days we’ll get more information about Pinkerton and Rockstart Games so stay tuned at Gaming Instincts, for updates.
Read the full article at – CriticalHit.
Shadow of the Erdtree will launch on June 21
This was originally a requirement when the game first launched.