Defending Sony Against the Church Of England 78
Ian Bogost writes at Gamasutra about the (now quiet) controversy between Sony and the Church of England. You may recall the religious organization's objection to the use of the Manchester cathedral in Insomniac's alternate history WWII shooter Resistance. The result of this objection was a weak-kneed apology from Sony, and an attempt to push the whole thing under a rug. Bogost notes that never once did the company try to defend itself on artistic merit, simply capitulating to the objections of the church. That, he has decided, leaves the job up to him: "For my part, I think the cathedral creates one of the only significant experiences in the whole game, one steeped in reverence for the cathedral and the church, rather than desecration. Resistance is not a game richly imbued with wisdom. It's a first-person shooter, and it is a pretty good one. It's beautifully rendered, taking apparent advantage of the advanced graphical capabilities of the PlayStation 3. The game is very linear, both in its plot and the paths through each level, but that linearity allows it to focus the player on a smaller, more tightly crafted environment. Resistance takes up a common theme in science fiction: an ultimate test of humankind against the Other."
Re:Uh, right. (Score:3, Informative)
As for modeling, you have no IP right over a look other than copyright, or patent. Any copyright or patent on the design or structure of the church has LOOOOONG past. It is now a landmark, and has lost all IP protections. In fact it is so old it didn't even have them to begin with. You could be an identical church right now and use it for porn movies and there is 0 they could legally do about it.
Really, the only legal recourse had to be taken at the time any sampling was done and since this is a landmark, it is very likely no person from the developer even set foot in the church, they very well may have just used publicly available photos of the interior. Even assuming they did actually set foot on the premises, if the church officials did not object at that moment and charge the people with trespassing they are now without legal recourse.