Courtney Love has finally backed away from the Twitter machine long enough to issue a response through her lawyer to the ongoing upheaval over Guitar Hero 5's Kurt Cobain avatar.
Former Nirvana bandmates Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic already expressed their extreme disappointment that the singer's image could be found singing Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" on the video game. Love's lawyer, Keith A. Fink, issued the following statement on the issue:
"Ms. Cobain is extremely upset about Activision's use of Mr. Cobain's likeness to sing the songs of others in its Guitar Hero game. Activision was granted permission by Kurt's trust solely to use his name and likeness. Activision was not given an unbridled right to use Mr. Cobain's name and likeness. Kurt's songs have a special and unique meaning to his fans and his image and legacy are very important to Ms. Cobain. The agreement Activision has with the trust doesn't allow them to use his likeness in ways that denigrate his image. We would hope Activision would do the right thing on its own and prohibit game users from using Kurt's image to sing others songs and if they don't we expect the trust to take appropriate action to protect Mr. Cobain's image."
“We are going to sue the shit out of Activision,” Love previously told U.K. paper The Guardian. “‘We’ being the Trust, the Estate, the LLC, the various LLCs, Cobain Enterprises … For the record, this Guitar Hero shit is breach of contract on a bully’s part and there will be a proper addressing of this and retraction.”
Interestingly, the "bully" in question claims that Courtney personally cashed in on the deal, signing the rights away herself after her detailed involvement in the image choices. “Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero 5,” read a statement from Activision, which has been released with the approval of surviving Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic.
Activision’s Tim Riley told RollingStone: “Courtney supplied us with photos and videos and knew exactly what she wanted Kurt to look like. She picked the wardrobe and hair style, which turned out to be the ‘Teen Spirit’ look, then we went back and forth over changes — some subtle, some not so subtle… She was actually great to work with. She got back with comments pretty quickly.”
The doubletalk is hard to see through, but since the onset of her presence in the land of 140 characters, Love’s Twitter feed has largely been devoted to nearly-indecipherable rants related to her legal and financial problems. The batshit conspiracy theories have escalated considerably since the avatar story broke, and Courtney wholeheartedly believes that a widespread, massively-orchestrated plan to loot her husband's fortune has taken place in the fifteen years since his death. Activision's use of her husband's likeness is merely the icing on a cake that's depleted not only her funds, but the trust-fund inheritance of Cobain's daughter, Frances Bean.
“Welcome to my NIGHTMARE,” Love said. “Yeah we'll sue Activision, this is disgusting, but theres alot MORE. You have not listened to me so Kurt's avatar is on YOU for dismissing me as a LOON, go fucking play Guitar Hero, commit necrophilia. I KNOW you are raping me and my family." This is just before claiming to have been studying up on forensic accounting, to track the culprits down herself.
One thing is certain: Courtney Love shouldn't have control over anybody's affairs, let alone one of the biggest legends in music history. She's out of her goddamned mind, and conspiracy or not, there should definitely be a third party involved to make sure that things like this don't happen in a future pill-induced frenzy.
