Wed, Jan 05, 2011 | 23:45 GMT
Game Informer threatens RPS with legal action over Tomb Raider images
Game Informer has issued a legal threat to Rock, Paper, Shotgun after the UK blog re-published images of Square’s Tomb Raider reboot that formed part of a GI cover exclusive.
Game Informer’s executive editor, Andrew Reiner first said “we’ll seek legal action” to an RPS reader on Twitter in response to the posting of the images, and then emailed the site with a further threat.
RPS removed the images later in the day.
In the original RPS story, the author wrote that “only Game Informer has them. I’ve chopped off the logos from four of them and made them RPS size because THAT WILL SHOW THEM.”
Once the images had been removed, the site wrote:
“The cropped Tomb Raider images illustrating this article – which was essentially a long-winded link to Game Informer’s site – have been removed. This is because Game Informer’s executive editor, Andrew Reiner – after threatening our readers on Twitter – sent us a legal threat of our very own.”
The published images rounded off Game Informer’s month of Tomb Raider.
Game Informer, the seventh most circulated magazine in America, has a readership of over 4.3 million.
We’ve asked Reiner for comment.
14 
Posted in: Action, Adventure, Hot, Journalism, Legalities, PC, PS3, Square Enix, Xbox 360
Tags: andrew reiner, game informer, rps, tomb raider
14 comments
#1
Suikoden Fan
05/01/11, 5:48 pm
game informer act like a knob i dont buy your mag, simply equation there for you.
#2
KrazyKraut
05/01/11, 5:56 pm
no…Andrew Reiner is an ass like the Gawker guy.
Anonymous….strike again!!!
#3
Suikoden Fan
05/01/11, 6:01 pm
speaking of mags i’ve noticed that nintendo mags are slowly talking about retro titles, i like this
#4
Quiiick
05/01/11, 6:06 pm
Sue them all, Andrew !!!
#5
Anders
05/01/11, 6:13 pm
What could GI sue them for? I’m no lawyer, but wouldn’t Square Enix have to do the suing?
#6
Dr.Ghettoblaster
05/01/11, 6:37 pm
I say fuck Game Informer. Once they release the issue (got it in the mail weeks ago) that shit’s public.
#7
abbe
05/01/11, 7:52 pm
Still, cropping the logo away? Douche move. They are fully within their right of enforcing their exclusivity of them and the ad-revenue it brings to their site.
Anders:
No, Square enix wouldn’t/couldn’t sue them as they only gave/sold the rights for the first shots away to GI, its up to GI to enforce that no one else is using the images.
#8
Old MacDonald
05/01/11, 7:56 pm
Game Informer aren’t exactly innocent. Look at this:
http://twitter.com/Thomas_Heger/status/12986686971576320
Picture taken by Norwegian journalist Thomas Heger working for Gamer.no. Used by GameInformer without permission.
IMO, stealing a photograph is quite a bit more serious than republishing screenshots from a game (that aren’t even GI’s to begin with, they’re the property of Square Enix).
#9
Golden
05/01/11, 7:56 pm
Fuckers
#10
Stephany Nunneley
05/01/11, 8:13 pm
@8 – Loads of people have stolen Pat’s pics (esp of Molyneux) over the years. The problem, is that once it hits Google or any other search engine and is used by numerous outlets, it becomes hard to find the original source material, esp when there are multiple uses of it cluttering up image search. NOT that I am taking up for GI, just sayin’. For all I know they could have blatantly ripped that one off.
#11
Old MacDonald
05/01/11, 8:23 pm
Stephany: I’m sure they found it through Google Image Search, but that doesn’t make it any more acceptable. If they can’t find out who to contact to get permission to use it, they can’t use it.
I realize these things are being republished on smaller amateur blogs and forums all the time, but you’d think a big player like GameInformer would follow the rules. Especially as they’re so keen on “taking legal actions” against sites like RPS.
#12
klewd
05/01/11, 11:20 pm
Why do people still buy gaming magazines? I can understand if they have interesting feature articles, interviews and so on – but the last time I checked 90% of those magazines are previews, reviews and bullshit.
#13
metamorphic
06/01/11, 3:23 am
@Old MacDonald: Thanks for bringing this to our attention! Will contact Andrew Reiner and ask for comment. As you said, this is most definitely an act of copyright violation that is far more enforceable in a court of law, compared to the innocuous image hyperlinking by RPS. Most specifically, as Game Informer is a commercial magazine that charges money for its content, any sort of copyright violation on their regard is a far more serious matter.
Someone on behalf of Thomas Neger should also send a legal letter to Game Informer and Andrew Reiner, and inform them of the possible legal routes one may take with this matter. Perhaps bring this up on 4chan?
#14
Old MacDonald
06/01/11, 8:42 am
13: I don’t know if the matter has been solved (I assume there’s been some contact between Gamer.no and GameInformer, and it may well be that they’ve found a solution). Can’t say for sure, I just thought the image-stealing itself was relevant to this discussion.