Jack Thompson vs. Mortal Kombat 89
Nate writes to mention the news that Jack Thompson has issued a cease and desist for the new Mortal Kombat:Armageddon title. Says Mr. Thompson: "It has today come to my attention that the newly recently Mortal Kombat: Armageddon contains an unauthorized commercial exploitation of my name, photograph, image, and likeness within the game." Thompson's likeness has appeared on websites in the game over the last few days as a result of his construction in the 'build-a-fighter' mode. His image is not actually a selectable character in the game, a fact he's chosen to skirt in his demands to Midway. If that's not enough Jack Thompson news for today, Game|Life has the video and commentary on Thompson's dressing down by the judge in the Bully case. Video courtesy of the Destructoid site.
"Celebrity" (Score:5, Insightful)
Thompson needs to seriously get a grip.
Re:"Celebrity" (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:"Celebrity" (Score:4, Interesting)
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Well..
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Well, wasn't it Rockstar's fault that a user mod allowed people to have wild sex in GTA: San Andreas? According to our buddy Jack, that was definitely the case. True, the content was on the physical disc, but since there wasn't any way to access it sans mod, I think it falls into the same general category.
Blaming Valve for that - or, here, blaming Activi
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Please consider using <BR> tags or, if that's too hard, switch to "Plain Old Text" mode and hit "ENTER" occasionally.
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However, being a public parody would not protect "Mortal Kombat" if they used his image. Mortal Kombat is a for profit game, not intended as a parody. For-Profit parodies are in a very murky legal area. On the other hand, a game site using his "avatar" as a joke would be perfectly in the clear (well, assuming decent lawyers were involved).
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The key is that you're making fun of what you're using... In the Supreme Courts words, parody "is the use of some elements of a prior author's composition to create a new one that, at least in part, comments on that author's works." So 'The Wind Done Gone' is perfectly legal, because it's using 'Gone with the Wind' to comment on... "Gone with the Wind".
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Well, at least the next time a judge finds him in contempt of court, the judge can simply rip off his head with the spine still dangling and declare "Fatality!"
5. He's a waste of court time (Score:2)
This humanoid has spent more time in the media and courts trying to suck money he doesn't deserve from game companies than any other single individual I've ever read about.
He's not a real lawyer. He's a professional thief who uses the courts as the tools of his trade.
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I thought that was the definition of a lawyer.
I bet he will win too (Score:2)
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Yeah, it's the same thing and Thompson will win </sarcasm>
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well, not exactly. Marvel owned the trademarks to the likenesses of those characters in the City of Heroes game. CoH was competing with a similar franchise, so it was construed as a trademark violation.
this mortal kombat thing not only lets you create a likeness of a real person, but also is probably protected by the same laws that protect parody.
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You can read more here:
http://pc.ign.com/articles/675/675667p1.html [ign.com]
So, I would not expect him to win. There
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And as far as I know, parodies of trademarked/copyrighted stuff is still legal in this country, isn't it? And doesn't this qualify as parody? And is Jack Thompson's face/likeness a registered trademark?
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Basically, no one's had the balls to take it to court and find out yet. It's inevitable that it'll happen someday, though.
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Jack thompson
Here it is... (Score:5, Funny)
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I would have suggested Sub-Zero's fatality... (Score:1)
Nah. Use Sub-Zero's OTHER fatality! (Score:2)
A bit corny, but oh-so-satisfying!
I think... (Score:4, Funny)
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Dammit, when will these nutballs learn? (Score:3)
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It is absolutely brilliant.
I need to go and get my JD now...
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"Shock Marketing" is only really effective if your product gets a lot of coverage in the mainstream media and becomes a topic of conversation at the water-cooler or coffee machine; Jack Thompsons, by him self, doesn't have enough influence to make a tame (by today's standards) videogame like Mortal Kombat sell well. The reason Jack Thompson is doing this (and all of his grandstanding) is because it increased name recognition and furthers his pol
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I'd rather have my children playing sex sim than violent crime sim, and watching boobies rather than people getting killed with swords. I guess that makes me a pervert.
Jack is to video games (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't bother with the video (Score:2)
Customization isn't a feature, it's a lawsuit! (Score:5, Funny)
I recently purchased your violence simulator which you refer to as a game called Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. While observing the features of the game I tested out your Kreate a Kharacter option which lets you customize a character to your preferences given a wide variety of choices. Apparently I can design a character in a suit and name him Jack Thompson, which makes this game in clear violation of allowing games to design men in suits and name them after people. You are ordered to Cease and Desist production of this game immediately until my name and all variations of spellings are disallowed during designing characters in suits. This includes "Jerk Thompson" AND "Jackoff Thompson".
Lovingly,
Jack Thompson, the original man fighting lost causes
You want to have some fun... (Score:4, Interesting)
"kill all the lawyers" joke (Score:2)
"In his depiction of Cade's rebellion in Henry VI, Part 2 is the well-known line, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." Although this is usually interpreted to be antagonistic to lawyers, others have seen that the text of the play makes clear that precisely the opposite meaning is intended. Cade seeks to cement his revolution by destroying the justice system."
Another lawsuit (Score:2, Funny)
Oh, Jack... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Seriously, not being into the genre, I'd never have heard of this new MK game if not for his latest shenanigans.
Oh shit, did I just give him an idea for his next law suit? Suing said games companies for lack of payment for the promotion he's been doing for them....
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Next on Thompson's list: (Score:1)
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Jack Thompson should watch out because if Jack Thompson finds out about this Jack Thompson is seriously screwed!
In other news... (Score:3, Funny)
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So when... (Score:1)
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And if these gaming companies would like to recover their legal expenses, I believe they can sue him for returning these fees, but courts are typically pretty gun shy about awarding these types of verdicts unless there are very egregious circumstances (which, despite OUR opinions, this probably is not) because it could serve as a deterrent to others for bringing legitimate cases before courts -- for fea
Who should I cheer for? (Score:1)
Summary of the video (Score:5, Informative)
First 5 minutes of it are spent watching some dork drive, then run into the courthouse, camera running. Thank god for fast-forward. Once inside the courthouse, he gets both Jack and Judge Friedman in the picture. Mostly Jack, whose body language is nothing short of nonchalantly defiant throughout.
Judge F, throughout, speaks very calmly, slowly, repeats himself quite a bit, indicating that this isn't the sort of game he would want his kids playing, but "that is not the test" and that the defendant would prevail on first amendment grounds.
Jack first speaks up, saying something like "am I going to be allowed to speak at this hearing?" but offers nothing, except to try to hold up a rather oversized (about 5 feet tall) sign, which we don't get to see. The judge doesn't actually say anything except "no" and Jack quickly takes the sign down, and it doesn't come back up (at the end of the video as Jack is leaving the courtroom, you can see that it has some relevant statute concerning disqualification of judges). Jack hands the bailiff a normal sized printout to hand to the judge, but no indication is given as to what it contains. One could easily assume it's the same thing as on his poster.
The judge then goes on to call Jack's behavior "inappropriate, unprofessional, and contemptible", and in his usual style, repeats himself quite a bit saying it. He mentions how Jack filed a lawsuit against the judge and attempted to use that as a reason for the judge to recuse himself, which the judge shoots down by saying that you can't simply sue a judge you don't like just to get him out of your case. While the judge is dressing Jack down for this, Jack is making a big show out of putting away his papers, like he's getting ready to leave.
Jack does get a little soliloquy in though: basically he tells the judge to his face that he "you misrepresented what was said in your chambers", and several times used the word "misrepresented" -- basically accusing Judge F. of lying. Ouch. The Judge is pretty much unfazed by this.
I saved the best for last: Judge Friedman won't hear the Motion to Show Cause, he's kicking it to another judge. The reason for this is that Judge Friedman has himself filed a complaint with the Florida Bar about Thompson's behavior.
So not only is Thompson still facing contempt charges, he's going to be up against the bar again. Last time, the FL Bar paid him off to go away, but now he's almost certainly going to face disciplinary action again, and this time, they might just decide to give him some serious payback.
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Jack is a technology expert! (Score:4, Funny)
Just watched the vid (Score:1)
This is a time I love living in a democracy. We have an ENTIRE SYSTEM setup to relegate these nut balls to the trash heap. Sure... we'll listen to your crappy argument, your faulty logic, and your desire to control others. Sure you can file your petitions, make your legal movements and show your "evidence".
But at the end of the day, Mr. Jack
hmm (Score:2)
It's so hard (Score:1)
Wackjobs (Score:2)
Way back when... (Score:2)
Man, Elizabeth Malecki was hot...
"Newly Recently"? (Score:2)
Christ, Jack, if you want to write a respectable cease and desist letter and not come off as an ignorant douche, at least proofread the dang thing...