http://transitmaps.tumblr.com/post/53696766419/boston-theft
My Boston T map used in “The Last of Us” PS3 game without permission or payment — Naughty Dog has been NAUGHTY
The top image above is apparently a screen capture of a new Playstation 3 game called “The Last of Us” developed by a company called Naughty Dog and released on June 14, 2013. According to Wikipedia, the game has received several “perfect” scores from game review sites and has had the biggest gaming launch of 2013, with 1.3 million units sold in its first week.
The lower image is, of course, my redesign for the Boston T map, which I first posted on the internet on March 11, 2012. Notice any similarities?
Basically, I’m fucking furious.
For a software developer — especially a big developer working on a blockbuster title like this — to casually appropriate someone else’s work and incorporate it into their game without any discussion with the owner of that work is completely unacceptable. (Not to mention hugely ironic, as the software industry is always complaining about piracy of their work.)
Naughty Dog seems to have known that they couldn’t use the official map without paying a hefty license fee, so it looks like they just went on the internet and found another one. Cos, you know, images on the internet are free for anyone to use, right? Not.
To be clear: at no point have Naughty Dog contacted me about using my intellectual property (this visual representation of the Boston rapid transit network) in their product.
To be even more clear: if you want to use my work commercially, payment before usage is required. If you’re making money from your product, then you can pay me for my work as well.
I am attempting to open communications with them now to ask where they came across the image, how it ended up in their game (with very pointed questions about their approvals and legal process), and what kind of compensation I can expect for the theft of my work.
Source: Randomly-discovered tweet (I keep track of tweets with the phrase “subway map” in them) from @Neo781, who praises the map as showing Naughty Dog’s attention to detail.
“Wow they actually accurately portray the subway map of Mass and have all the colors and names of stops correct.”, he says; to which @gavshen replies, “That’s Naughty Dog for you.”
Yep, that’s Naughty Dog: stealing my work and taking the credit for it.
Presence of my map in the game also confirmed by this post on a forum board.
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Apparently this has been out there for a few days, but I just found out myself. Thought it was relevant.
