Last March, the British television channel BBC indicated that it wished to produce a fiction that would be centered on the controversial studio Rockstar, with the aim of emphasizing the creation of the fetish license of the latter: Grand Theft Auto.
The objective of this fiction which would be part of its "Make Digital" initiative would have been to "arouse young people's interest in technology." There was talk of a relatively large budget, since it was Daniel Radcliffe who was supposed to take the role of one of the co-founders of Rockstar Games, as well as Bill Paxton for the role of Jack Thompson (the group's lawyer). The scenario of the fiction would be based on "Jacked, the unofficial story of Grand Theft Auto", and the program should be available by the end of the year …
However, this was without considering the fact that Rockstar does not really want to see its manufacturing secrets or its working methods exposed like that on television, especially since no prior consent was requested from the publisher. As such, Rockstar has launched legal proceedings to ban the BBC from exploiting its intellectual property, as Gamespot reports:
"Take-Twho Interactive has launched legal proceedings against the BBC for a trademark infringement with their film currently dubbed" Game Changer "which deals with the video game series from Rockstar Grand Theft Auto.
Rockstar Games, the sole owner of the brands referred to in the title and its promotional spots, has no involvement whatsoever in the project. Our goal is to ensure that our brands are not exploited inappropriately in the unofficial description of events related to Rockstar Games by the BBC. We have tried several times to solve the problem with the chain without arriving at any valid solution. It is our duty to protect our intellectual property and in this case legal action is necessary. "
However, the legal proceedings remain unclear, since the fiction prepared by the BBC is based on a book already published since 2012 without the latter posing any problem for the publisher at the time.
For its part, the BBC has announced that it does not wish to comment on the case.
