Take-Two denies it threatened suit over L.A. Noir TV show
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Company says it never contacted Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont about pursuing legal action over since-retitled TNT show.
The Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont claimed this week that Take-Two "threatened to sue the sh*t out of me" over his new TNT TV show, which was to be called L.A. Noir, forcing him to change it to Lost Angels. Now, Take-Two has responded, denying Darabont's claims.
“It’s unfortunate that Mr. Darabont finds it necessary to gain publicity by making inaccurate statements," a Take-Two representative said. "Take-Two never contacted Mr. Darabont nor threatened to sue any party."
"The facts are that Take-Two reached out to [TNT parent company Turner Broadcasting System] to express concern over confusion between the properties and they responded that they had decided to change the title of the show independent of Take-Two’s concerns.”
In addition to featuring a name similar to L.A. Noire, Darabont's show is set in 1947 Los Angeles, the same time period of the game.
L.A. Noire was developed by Team Bondi for Rockstar Games and released in May 2011. It garnered a positive critical reception and shipped 4 million units. A sequel is a possibility.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
47 comments
"The facts are that Take-Two reached out to [TNT parent company Turner Broadcasting System] to express concern over confusion between the properties and they responded that they had decided to change the title of the show independent of Take-Two?s concerns.?
In legalese this means that they did contact them, most likely did threaten to sue, but Take-Two, in an attempt to save face has chosen to deny the accusations. It's basically the equivalent to saying "We made them an offer they couldn't refuse."
@SuperDutchy I doubt they threatened anything. Take 2 might be a big mover in the games industry but they are dwarfed in comparison to Turner Broadcasting. Any legal action against Turner would be like trying to shoot off your own foot while trying to keep your head on the table for the band saw.
I wouldn't doubt, though, that this was a PR stunt that both sides are in on. Take 2 doesn't need any publicity for LA Noire, and honestly I never heard about the TV show until this article.
@spoonybard-hahs @SuperDutchy I thought the gaming industry had alot more money in it these days? (compared to TV)
@Chief_Death @SythisTaru @spoonybard-hahs @SuperDutchy lol, it might be a young industry but gaming is the biggest entertainment industry in the world and continues to grow rapidly.
@SythisTaru @spoonybard-hahs @SuperDutchy Compared to TV, music, movies and other media industries gaming industry is a toddler so to speak.
Seriously? All that to gain a bit of attention? Good of Take Two to be honest about it.
I also have to wonder if Take-Two actually copyrighted/trademarked the name for use in TV, or just in video games.
2 Like "The facts are that Take-Two reached out to [TNT parent company Turner Broadcasting System] to express concern over confusion between the properties and they responded that they had decided to change the title of the show independent of Take-Two?s concerns.?
Just contacting them about possible confusion implies a possible lawsuit in the future.
@starduke Yes, but the guy is still exaggerating it seems, they were hardly threatening to "sue the shit out of" him as he puts it. Well i would take Take Two's word anyway, i could be wrong though.
@GamerLegend10 True, I doubt very much Take-Two would want something that should be flushed down the toilet.
2 Like Director plays L.A. Noire on PS3. Director suddenly gets "idea" for show. Take-two expresses concerns. Director automatically thinks "Oh shit, they caught me." Director tries to save skin.
2 Like They probably sent him something saying "we own the rights to that title and it's not freely available for use" and he translated that into "sue the sh*t out of me."
1 Like Take Two is lying. "Contacting TNT parent company Turner Broadcasting" was you threatening to sue, and denying it is absolutely pathetic.
1 Like Wow Mr. Frank Darabont. congratulations, you just made yourself look like an ass :\
Honestly this makes more sense, i mean i doubt T2 would bother with such legal actions that require time and money since the show being named wouldn't be prejudicial for their game that came out two years ago, and i doubt they plan on making a sequel to it so.
Plus, many of us didn't know about that show, none of my friends also knew about it until now so i wouldn't be surprised if it were a marketing campaign strategy from Mr. Daraboont.
It is a shame that he felt that he had to to this dirty job to get people to watch his show.
2 Like T2 would stand to lose way more than Darabont by lying (as he could just produce evidence of any correspondence). So I'm really inclined to think Darabont is just blowing things WAY out of proportion, or someone at TNT/TurnerStuff did a terrible job communicating the situation to him, and he's just going off that alone. Either way, T2's version of the story seems likely to be the most accurate.
1 Like I wouldn't blame Take Two if they did threaten to sue. When I heard about the L.A. Noire TV show I thought for sure it was based on the game. And when I heard it was going to star the guy that played Shane on Walking Dead I thought "that dude is nothing like the guy in the game, but it should still be cool". Not sure if I'm interested in a show that's not based on the game though,
5 Like Whether or not Take Two did threaten legal action, you shouldn't be naming your show after a video game, if you don't have the developers consent.
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@erikseja1980 @Plasmid_king @MrHatnClogs Well its set in the same time period and L.A. Noire was a fairly recently released game, people could easily confuse the two to be linked and if Take Two ever decided to make a movie or tv series based off of the game they could then come into legal issues with this tv series. Take Two has every right to defend the name (even if it is missing an "e").
Of course they didn't make any threats. That's what the lawyers are for. To keep their hands clean.
1 Like 1947? "L.A. Noir? Too much coincidence. Thats why they changed it before something happens.
It wouldn't be surprising if they did. They've taken aggressive stances in the past before.
-attempt 12 on getting this comment to appear-
Clearly Darabont felt strong armed by Take2, whether or not they actually attempted to sue.
5 Like Well, this is an interesting twist. It's a much more reasonable stance than bluntly trying to sue over a similar title. Based on the rhetoric in the article, it doesn't sound like Take-Two did anything aggressive. Now it seems more of a matter of who to believe: PR teams who get paid to damage control, or the guy with the decidedly colorful way of saying legal action was threatened...
Personally, it's probably naive of me to think so, but I really want to believe Take-Two's explanation here. Jumping right to suing is a jerk move, but I don't see anything wrong with discussing the similar titles to ensure fans can tell the two apart.
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2 Like Well the contacted TNT who probably forwarded the message Mr. Darabont. Whether it was said to TBS or Mr. Darabont, it still was said. I doubt Take-Two was expressing concern. I'm sure they said, "Change the name or we will sue your company." Take-Two is trying to act like they weren't the ones who initiated the bad news, but it seems like they were. No need to try and sugar coat it.
1 Like Ah ... fuc* that show and it's director Frank Darabont , Just R* and Cole Phelps ;)
4 Like Director for TNT show "They threatened me!"
Take-Two "We just really nicely stated that there was a similarity."
LOL at giant corporation drama.
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