The Wardman Wire

There have two new developments in the Sony vs Manchester Cathedral dispute about Sony Europe’s use of a high quality simulation of Manchester Cathedral in the video game “Resistance: Fall of Man”.

Sony has now issued a formal apology.

They are also - according to a legal affairs website - recruiting their first ever in house intellectual property lawyer in the UK to deal with “licensing issues”.

So - who was advising them while they were developing the game over the last several years as to what “all the necessary permissions” were that they stated they had obtained?

Formal Apology

On July 6th Sony expanded on their previous “statement of regret” by formally recognising that they had caused serious offence to the community at the cathedral. Sony took out a full page advert in the local paper to apologise to Manchester. This is the full text of the new apology:

Letters to the Editor, Manchester Evening News

Dear Sir,

At a recent meeting with Dean Rogers Govender and Canon Denby of Manchester Cathedral we discussed the use of the Cathedral as a setting for one of the scenes in our video game Resistance Fall of Man.

It is clear to us that the connection between the congregation and the Cathedral is a deeply personal and spiritual one. As a result, it is also clear that we have offended some of the congregation by using the Cathedral in our science fiction game.

It was never our intention to offend anyone in the making of this game, and we would like to apologise unreservedly to them for causing that offence, and to all parts of the community who we might also have offended.

Furthermore, we will ensure that Manchester Cathedral is never used as a setting in any future Sony Computer Entertainment video game.

Yours faithfully

Dr David A Reeves

President

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

This means that Sony have now moved much closer to the position required by the Dean and Chapter of Manchester Cathedral, without offering to meet any of the demands - such as withdrawal of the game - that would cause any significant cost tp the Sony company.

Sony had no Intellectual Property Expertise

Fresh news has broken in the legal trade press today, however. The Lawyer.com website is carrying a story that Sony is seeking to recruit it’s first ever UK based IP lawyers.

Ben Moshinsky writes (my emphasis):

Sony is ramping up its European in-house capability by creating two new roles based in the UK.

The company has set up Sony Home Entertainment as a new business unit and is on the hunt for a legal counsel to join the enterprise as its first and only lawyer.

The US arm of Sony is also in the process of hiring its first IP lawyer to be based in the UK.

The new European IP lawyer will be based in the UK following a 12-month stint in Sony’s US headquarters to get to know the business.

The role will focus on IP licensing matters and will create a bridge between the US offices and Sony’s agreements with European telecoms companies, with the lawyer reporting to the vice-president for IP.

The company is looking for a US-trained lawyer with experience of working at a US firm.

The move mirrors that of US food company Kraft, which created a new European IP role this year, hiring Howrey senior associate Calum Smyth.

Analysis

Ok. So it is clear. When they were arguing with Manchester Cathedral last month Sony had no specialist IP expertise in house. Yet they were apparently confident to make statements like this:

David Wilson, a Sony spokesman, told The Times: “It is game-created footage, it is not video or photography. It is entertainment, like Doctor Who or any other science fiction. It is not based on reality at all. Throughout the whole process we have sought permission where necessary.”

As I explained at the time, access, licencing and copyright law - especially where Cathedrals are concerned - is a nightmare. I don’t see how they could know that they were “seeking permission where necessary” throughout the long period gestation of the game over several years.

To hire external consultants over that period would be seriously expensive. I think that it is quite likely that they made assumptions and took a flier. Whether they did or not, they were clearly not on the ball with licensing - not very good for a multinational business built on a foundation of intellectual property.

I hope that Sony hired someone knowledgeable when the missive from the Dean and Chapter landed on their doorstep - which was probably a hell of a shock, and I hope that they will be paying more attention to these areas in the future.

If they do, we may have ended up with a win-win.

Of course, Manchester Cathedral are likely to continue to pursue what they regard as an appropriate fee for the use of their building - but that is best left to the parties to address in private.

Tags: sony, manchester cathedral, copyright law, rogers govender, bishop of manchester, resistance fall of man, video game, first person shooter[tags]sony, manchester cathedral, copyright law, rogers govender, bishop of manchester, resistance fall of man, video game, first person shooter[/tags]