AfterDawn: News

Courtney Love threatens lawsuit over Kurt Cobain likeness in Guitar Hero 5

A recent "tweet-tirade" from Courtney Love following the likeness of deceased Nirvana front-man, Kurt Cobain, appearing in the latest installment of the Guitar Hero gaming franchise, included a message of intent to sue Activision. Love claims she never agreed to Cobain's final appearance in the video-game, in particular the possibility to have his character lip-sync to Bon Jovi.

Most of Love's outburst about the issue were in response to a video posted (see below) by Everett True of Cobain in GH5 and a very critical personal thought on it aimed at Courtney Love and Dave Grohl (ex-Nirvana drummer and current Foo Fighters front-man) - essentially blaming them for the appearance of Cobain in the video game.



"[I] never signed off on the avatar, let alone this f***ing feature!" Courtney wrote. "There's been four breaches of a very strict contract." Her responses to Everett True were defensive and pointed the finger at Grohl. "He was always a bad seed and is still riding the s**t while I take bullets. If there's a hell, he's going. I'm not," she ranted.

The Guitar Hero developers appear to remember a positive experience of working with Courtney. "Courtney supplied us with photos and videos," said Activision vice president Tim Riley. "She picked the wardrobe and hairstyle, which turned out to be the 'Teen Spirit' look, then we went back and forth over changes – some subtle, some not so subtle ... She wanted a sort of athletic definition but not overly so."

Love doesn't agree, and intends to sue Activision. "We are going to sue the s**t out of Activision; 'we' being the Trust, the Estate, the LLC, the various LLCs, Cobain Enterprises ... For the record, this Guitar Hero s**t is breach of contract on a bully's part and there will be a proper addressing of this and retraction."

Read Everett True blog post and watch video
Courtney Love on Twitter

Written by: James Delahunty @ 12 Sep 2009 21:59

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• 14 comments

• Morreale

  She's a murderer...

  13.9.2009 00:47 #1

• jony218

  I think that's the alcohol talking. No woman curses like that when they are sober, unless they are deranged. I know kurt cobain would be proud to be in "guitar hero", joining the beatles among others is a great honor.

  13.9.2009 03:06 #2

• mchalmers

  Originally posted by jony218: I think that's the alcohol talking. No woman curses like that when they are sober, unless they are deranged.This is Coutney Love remember... :-)
  

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  13.9.2009 04:17 #3

• domie

  Exactly, Courtney Love is deranged , she's also a drug addict and drunk and liar as well so it could be any one of the 4 or a combination.
  She probably did agree to all this and then when the heat and backlash started , she suddenly changes her tune to appear innocent and disguise the fact that she is cashing in on her dead husband's image once again.
  I can't think this one will play in the courts for too long - I mean if there is a contract then she either signed it or she didn't.
  The way she is hurling abuse makes it sound like she is trying to say she knew nothing about the inclusion of his image in the game at all.

  13.9.2009 04:34 #4

• breticles

  Originally posted by jony218: I think that's the alcohol talking. No woman curses like that when they are sober, unless they are deranged. I know kurt cobain would be proud to be in "guitar hero", joining the beatles among others is a great honor.<br> I did not know Kurt, but after reading a lot about the band and even reading an autobiography on him. I would have to say I disagree. He was always portrayed as very self conscious and did not care for the fame. However, maybe he was just trying to be humble.

  13.9.2009 11:22 #5

• pphoenix

  Quote:Originally posted by jony218: I think that's the alcohol talking. No woman curses like that when they are sober, unless they are deranged. I know kurt cobain would be proud to be in "guitar hero", joining the beatles among others is a great honor.<br> I did not know Kurt, but after reading a lot about the band and even reading an autobiography on him. I would have to say I disagree. He was always portrayed as very self conscious and did not care for the fame. However, maybe he was just trying to be humble.i would completely agree, the last thing Kurt would have wanted is to be used by a corporation to make millions.
  
  Kurt will be rolling in his grave right now. he would have probably preferred it if millions of people were picking up a guitar & learning a talent instead of mind-numbingly bashing buttons.
  
  & if they did not seek Courtney's full backing i would be acting just the same if they were using my dead partners likeness without consent, i would probably try to block the sale of all copies of the game & retract any prior agreement for breach of contract.
  
  jony218 not every one wants to sign their soul away to a huge corporation to become nothing more than a slave which spurred the delayed release of Kurt's album after DGC (warner) tried to force Kurt to "pop up" his album as they believed it to be unmarketable but "Nevermind" went on to be a "small" success.

  13.9.2009 12:31 #6

• mike.m

  I still think she's out of line here, as usual.
  
  Quote:If there's a hell, he's going. I'm notFor what exactly did he do to deserve to go to hell? How about when there was evidence of her having a copy of the "death note" that Kurt supposedly left? Murderers go to hell b****.
  
  Quote:We are going to sue the s**t out of Activision; 'we' being the Trust, the Estate, the LLC, the various LLCs, Cobain EnterprisesYeah that sounds like someone very professional who cared about Kurt. She should be happy that someone would honour him in a Rock music video game, instead of trying to cash in for more drugs and alcohol.

  13.9.2009 16:32 #7

• pphoenix

  Originally posted by mike.m : Yeah that sounds like someone very professional who cared about Kurt. She should be happy that someone would honour him in a Rock music video game, instead of trying to cash in for more drugs and alcohol.Activision does not give a dam about Kurt, all they are doing is using his music and image to generate revenue. i wouldn't call it a honour, to be slapped into a game that is turning the talent of playing a guitar into tapping a few buttons when the very purpose of your existence was to go against the commercialisation of everything.

  13.9.2009 17:07 #8

• bobiroc

  Originally posted by pphoenix: i would completely agree, the last thing Kurt would have wanted is to be used by a corporation to make millions.
  
  Kurt will be rolling in his grave right now. he would have probably preferred it if millions of people were picking up a guitar & learning a talent instead of mind-numbingly bashing buttons.
  
  & if they did not seek Courtney's full backing i would be acting just the same if they were using my dead partners likeness without consent, i would probably try to block the sale of all copies of the game & retract any prior agreement for breach of contract.
  
  jony218 not every one wants to sign their soul away to a huge corporation to become nothing more than a slave which spurred the delayed release of Kurt's album after DGC (warner) tried to force Kurt to "pop up" his album as they believed it to be unmarketable but "Nevermind" went on to be a "small" success.
  and
  
  Originally posted by pphoenix: Activision does not give a dam about Kurt, all they are doing is using his music and image to generate revenue. i wouldn't call it a honour, to be slapped into a game that is turning the talent of playing a guitar into tapping a few buttons when the very purpose of your existence was to go against the commercialisation of everything.
  
  Tell that to the other Bands like Metallica, Aerosmith, & Van Halen that all have their own GH games out and participated in the creation of the game. Not to mention all the other bands in the rest of the Guitar Hero series and Rock Band for that matter. No one is downplaying the talent it takes to play Guitar for real and we all know (well maybe except you) that it is a game. There are people out there that appreciate the music and take this game as a chance to interact with the music they love. Sure Activision intends to make money off these games after all they are a for profit company and no one is asking them to give it away for free. Courtney love is a b*tch and only cares about herself. It should have been her that died and not Kurt. Unfortunately he is dead and cannot speak for himself and it is terrible that we have this drug addicted slut (that was probably responsible for his death) to speak for him. She attacks Dave Grohl but I am sure he remembers Kurt in a good way and all she wants is another 15 minutes of fame because she is a loser and is Jealous.
  
  If you do not like the game then fine, that's your right. But you consider it mashing buttons but isn't that true for any game. Why do they make sports games or war games. Is that tarnishing the honor of Athletes and Soldiers? My wife and I enjoy those games and know people that actually play instruments for real and also enjoy them. They have interviewed plenty of the artists they include in their games and I have yet to see one that hates the fact that they have been included in such a game.

  13.9.2009 20:51 #9

• KillerBug

  Kurt was murdered...even if you do not agree with that, it should be very clear that the police did not do an investigation at all, and that the official story does not physicaly work. (a man just out of rehab with a tripple-lethal dose of heroin operating a shotgun with his toes).
  
  He was murdered because he wanted to get out of the music biz and his marriage to Courtney. This would have destroyed any hope of Courtney's current career, and would have left her with only a few million dollars and virtualy no fame.
  
  He never would have even started talks with Activision, it was courtney that did that. She wanted more money, and a new generation of fans to buy the music that she now owns. Now she starts this crap just to draw attention to the game, to make more money. She is an evil b***h that will do anything so long as it might benifit her.
  
  People like her make me want to be a Christian...just to be sure she would go to hell.

  14.9.2009 00:57 #10

• Blackjax

  Ah the rantings of a coat tail riding, alcohol fueled, foul mouthed skank. Who knew she could generate such a lively discussion?!

  14.9.2009 01:18 #11

• Beachman

  if i remember "nirvana" was on the downside fading into obscurity, with the likes of pearl jam, sound garden etc.. cobain killed himself, then all of a sudden he was some fantastic songwriter, and spokesmen of the generation. courtney needs to remember what her husband was.. a fading rockstar. the lawsuit is only for publicity. just to get her name in the news..

  14.9.2009 01:36 #12

• atomicxl

  I doubt a big company like Acti wouldn't do this legally. Love was probably stoned and doesn't remember signing the contracts. As far as this dishonoring Cobain... I don't know. When people get older they usually mellow out and don't mind making stuff that lets their fans experience their music in new ways and introduces young people to their songs. Who's to say he wouldn't have been ok with this by the time he was in his late 30s or early 40s.
  
  Also, shooting yourself in the face with a shotgun goes against trying to protect your image.

  14.9.2009 10:49 #13

• biver

  Originally posted by Morreale: She's a murderer...
  
  Indeed

  14.9.2009 13:25 #14