trivard676
Although they may look similar, Naughty Dog didn’t borrow Ellen Page’s likeness for Ellie. It just so happens that some people look like other people. Have you ever seen that sort of thing happen before? Someone you could swear could be someone else’s sibling or family member because they look so alike, yet are complete strangers?
However, there is something they did borrow without permission.
Cameron Booth created a map of the Boston transit system, hosted on his Transit Map Tumblr account. It’s his. There’s a copyright notice on the bottom left hand corner. It’s his. Adding to that, the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority is very protective over their official maps – they don’t just let anybody have ’em. Same goes for a lot of transit authorities around the world. Booth has access to them to recreate them in a way that will allow others to use them, making them his own work.
So, when he found that very same map he’d slaved over for hours in The Last of Us, needless to say, he was a little upset.
Basically, I’m fucking furious.
For a software developer, especially a big developer working on a blockbuster title like this – to casually appropriate someone else’s work and incorporate it into their game without any discussion with the owner of that work is completely unacceptable.
Naughty Dog seems to have known that they couldn’t use the official map without paying a hefty license fee, so it looks like they just went on the internet and found another one. Cos you know, images on the internet are free for anyone to use, right? Not.
It isn’t as if Booth is crying foul over nothing, either. After contacting the company regarding the issue, Naughty Dog actually responded to the complaint.
UPDATE, TUESDAY JUNE 25, 1:00PM: I’ve just spoken with Naughty Dog over the phone in a very constructive conversation. Can’t say more at the moment, but it seems as if matters will be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. I can say that they do acknowledge their error in using my map and were very apologetic for it. I likewise apologized for my initial vitriolic post. A lot of mutual respect for each other’s creative work.
It’s been a hell of a last couple of days: thanks for the support from many, and the interesting and varied comments from most.
Wow. So, Booth explains that it’s his map, the map that he created, slaved over hours for and brought to life. Naughty Dog is apologetic over their error and wants to work with him to resolve the issue. Fantastic!
Internet commentators on the other hand are their usual vocal minority selves. Some of them are even still upset that the rightful owner of the work pointed out the fact that “hey…that’s mine,” saying that he shouldn’t have publicly outed them like that, because it’s embarrassing to the company and unprofessional. Also, stating that he must have copied other work and that what Naughty Dog did really isn’t that bad, because he (Booth) did it too. If anything, the Internet Lawyers came out in full force, but throughout all of the comments, Booth showed them all up in support of his claim.
I’m glad things are working out amicably and that Naughty Dog acknowledged their error. I hope all of those people who wrote nasty comments about Booth feel like real shitheads now, or at least bad enough to apologize. Hah…
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