Rockstar is taking legal action against the BBC over its upcoming Grand Theft Auto drama.
Game Changer, which revolves around the court battles between Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar and Miami lawyer Jack Thompson, is in danger of being derailed due to a trademark lawsuit of its own filed against the BBC by Rockstar. Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two told IGN that the company has tried to resolve the issue with the BBC to no avail.
“While holders of the trademarks are referenced in the film title and its promotion, Rockstar Games has had no involvement with this project,” it said. “Our goal is to ensure that our trademarks are not misused in the BBC’s pursuit of an unofficial depiction of purported events related to Rockstar Games.”
The company also said that,”we have attempted multiple times to resolve this matter with the BBC without any meaningful resolution.“ Rockstar also issued that,”it is our obligation to protect our intellectual property and unfortunately in this case litigation was necessary.”
Meanwhile, a BBC spokesperson told Digital Spy that the company doesn’t comment on legal matters.
Grand Theft Auto writer Steve Hammond previously expressed concerns that nobody from the BBC had approached members of the original development team about the project.
Game Changer, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Bill Paxton, is part of the ‘Make It Digital’ initiative, which was created to inspire younger generations to get involved with coding and programming. Radcliffe will play Rockstar co-founder and president Sam Houser, while Paxton plays Thompson in the 90-minute drama.
