Rockstar Games Sues BBC for GTA Docu-Drama
Rockstar Games' parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has filed a suit against BBC for trademark infringement for the broadcasting company's upcoming airing of the documentary drama "Game Changers" about the story behind Rockstar Games' popular racing game series "Grand Theft Auto."
In an official statement shared with several gaming websites, Take-Two contended that they had no involvement whatsoever in the project and after what they called several attempts to "resolve the matter," felt that litigation is already the necessary step.
The full statement, as shared with Games Radar is as follows: "Take-Two Interactive has filed suit against the BBC for trademark infringement based on their movie currently titled 'Game Changer' as it relates to Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto video games series. While holders of the trademarks referenced in the film title and its promotion, Rockstar Games has had no involvement with this project.
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"Our goal is to ensure that our trademarks are not misused in the BBC's pursuit of an unofficial depiction of purported events related to Rockstar Games. We have attempted multiple times to resolve this matter with the BBC without any meaningful resolution. It is our obligation to protect our intellectual property and unfortunately in this case litigation was necessary," the statement continued.
The docu-drama ,which stars Daniel Radcliffe as Rockstar's co-founder Sam Houser and Bill Paxton as lawyer Jack Thompson, is supposedly based on the book "Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto," revolving around a very dramatic look at the conflict between the game developer and moral activist Thompson. The Games Radar report also noted that former staff involved with the original game admitted that BBC has not gotten in touch with any of them.
BBC has declined to comment on the case. They announced the project in March. Filming is under way as the network plans to air the 90-minute docu-drama later this year as part of its focus on computer programming and related activities.
