Rockstar Games has filed a lawsuit against the BBC London over issues with its upcoming GTA TV drama.
The BBC in London is being sued by Rockstar Games and its parent company Take-Two for trademark infringement.
BBC London is planning a one-off drama special based on the Grand Theft Auto series called “Game Changer” (working title).
The 90-minute long drama was set to focus on the real-life conflict between Rockstar founder Sam Houser and the US lawyer/open critic of the GTA series and other violent videogames, Jack Thompson.
It was recently announced that Daniel Radcliffe and Bill Paxton have been cast in the drama as Houser and Thompson respectively.
But, it could be that this lawsuit puts the brakes on the BBC special.
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“Take-Two Interactive has filed suit against the BBC for trademark infringement based on their movie currently titled ‘Game Changer’ as it related to Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto video game series,” reads Rockstar’s official statement to IGN.
“While holders of the trademarks referenced in the film title and its promotion, Rockstar Games has had no involvement with this project. 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.”
Filming for the BBC drama started on April 20, with the special expected to air later this year as part of a season dedicated to coding-based programmes and activities.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.