Red Dead Redemption 2‘s Pinkerton agents have caused a real-life legal battle, with Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations disagreeing publically with Take-Two Interactive over the Pinkerton company’s presence in the game.
Andrew Milton and Edgar Ross are characters that appear in Red Dead Redemption 2, and they are clearly established as working for Pinkerton. It should come as no surprise, given Rockstar and Take Two’s clear commitment to realism in the game, that Pinkerton is an actual company from the real world.
The Verge reports that the real-life Pinkerton kicked off this legal battle by filing a cease and desist notice against Take-Two. Pinkerton felt that, despite the “clear affection” shown towards Pinkerton in the game, that the usage of the company’s name was trading on the “goodwill” of Pinkerton’s trademarks and “creating a false impression that the game was made by or connected with Pinkerton.”
Pinkerton requested that Take-Two either “pay either a lump sum or ongoing royalties”, but it seems that Take-Two sees matters differently. The game company is suing in response, arguing that the presence of Pinkerton in the game is merely an example of a historical detail and should be deemed fair use.
“Historical fiction— television, movies, plays, books, and games — would suffer greatly if trademark claims like [Pinkerton’s] could even possibly succeed,” Take-Two argues in the suit’s official documentation. “[Pinkerton] cannot use trademark law to own the past.”
We will be sure to keep you updated as this story develops. It could set some interesting precedents, whichever way it goes.