Activision And Everyone Tied To Kurt Cobain At Odds Over Guitar Hero 5 Representation

With the announcement of Guitar Hero 5, nothing was bigger than the fact that Kurt Cobain, the former lead singer of Nirvana, had been licensed as a likeness within the game. We haven't really gone into depth on this at all, even as the story broke repeatedly over the last week or so. It seemed to be just a flare up from Courtney Love, Cobain's widow, as she defended herself against the myriad of complaints she had received from fans of Cobain and the band, most of which had been focused on her Twitter feed.

While Love is known for wild antics (no question there), it seems that everyone has a different outlook on this. Love exploded on her Twitter, saying over and over again that she had never signed off on the usage of Cobain's likeness, and that Activision was completely in the wrong. Of course, if you have two or three days to kill, you can find her feed and read up, but be aware that vulgarities are innumerable.

Of course, Activision has gone out and said that it had done everything necessary to secure the licensing rights, which include getting signed by Courtney Love herself. But it's the surviving members of the band, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl (who is now the Foo Fighters' front-man), that add an extra twist. They do not mention that the licensing agreements were never ascertained, but that they are simply "dismayed and very disappointed" that the avatar representing Cobain can be utilized not only to sing Nirvana songs, but also be used in other songs. The Cobain avatar can be unlocked, and therefore utilized by players to sing any song in the game. What do you think? Is Activision in the right? Or do you believe that Cobain's image shouldn't be tarnished by doing a rap, or singing any song not done by Nirvana?

[via Rolling Stone]