Ben-DutkaKurt Cobain's death hit the grunge scene hard, and it remains one of the biggest tragedies in music history. This is why we were a little surprised to see a playable avatar of Cobain in the latest Guitar Hero entry.
But if Activision didn't actually secure permission to do this, it's even creepier . At what appears to be Courtney Love's Twitter page , she claims to never have "signed off on the avatar," and that "this Guitar Hero sh** is a breach of contract." In fact, she intends to sue the sh** out of Activision" on behalf of herself, Cobain's estate and the various LLCs Cobain enterprises. Now, if all of this is true, it could be trouble for the publisher in question, although we imagine Activision will come back over the top and say they absolutely did obtain clearance for using Cobain's likeness in the game. When it comes to games that require about a million licenses in order to be both realistic and ultimately successful, you're bound to run into a few issues. But this is a particularly sensitive issue, especially in the eyes of those who really loved Cobain and still remember his influence with a wistful smile and a gleam in their eye. If Activision is at fault, it'll be interesting to see how they respond. Tread carefully, guys!
Of course, this is all assuming that the Twitter info really is from Courtney Love. If it isn't, this entire story is…well, our mistake. 😉
Related Game(s): Guitar Hero 5
