Games and copyright lawyer Alex Chapman of Campbell Hooper solicitors explains to GamesIndustry.biz that the Church of England's legal case against Sony could prove difficult to justify... if the organization even manages to have one at all. This week the Church of England has filed a complaint to Sony Computer Entertainment over what it claims to be the unauthorzied depiction of the Manchester Cathedral in the PlayStation 3 action shooter, Resistance: The Fall of Man. In addition, the Church naturally takes issue with the violence portrayed in the segments of the game which include the Cathedral.

Chapman believes that outside of a iffy argument where Sony may be damaging the image of the Cathedral ("desecrating" it, as the Church says), the Church may end up lacking a legitimate legal claim against the company. Perhaps the best the Church can hope for is to prove that Sony actually went ahead and re-created the Cathedral for Resistance without any permission from the organization itself in the first place, but even this is not quite solid.

Sony itself is currently in communication with the Church of England directly over this issue, and is not expected to comment until they reach some sort of agreement.

"The inclusion of the Cathedral in the game could not be considered to be an infringement of any copyright in it... public buildings are generally fair game for inclusion in videogames, films et cetera, and it is something that their owners just have to accept.

"What isn't fair game, however, is if the building is presented in a way that could be said to be defamatory in relation to those associated with it and this might be what the Church is more concerned about. Also if the representation of the building could be argued to have become so closely associated with a business that its representation amounts to a false endorsement of Sony or its products, or it is registered as a trademark, there may be issues.

"In each case however my impression is that the Church will have some difficulty in pursuing Sony. There is no law against insensitivity and as with many matters of this kind, it is the public reaction that might be more damaging than the legal one."

Wolfwood via gamesindustry.biz »