Sony Apologizes to Church of England

In a letter received by the dean of Manchester Cathedral, Sony has apologized to the Church of England for including a building that looks similar to Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man.

You’ll remember that I told you about the threat of legal action, and Andrew pointed out that the Church was now asking for cash as well as an apology.

In the letter (viewable here), David Reeves, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, says, “It was not our intention to cause offence by using a representation of Manchester Cathedral in chapter 8 of the work. If we have done so we sincerely apologise.” However, Reeves also says, “We do not accept that there is any connection between contemporary issues of 21st century Manchester and a work of science fiction in which a fictitious 1950’s Britain is under attack by aliens. We believe a comprehensive viewing of the work will make its content and context clear.” Dr. Reeves then proposes a meeting between Sony and Church officials to “demonstrate it to you at a mutually convenient time.”

Church of England officials have said they will accept the offer of this meeting, and thanked Sony for the apology. However, they also underlined their opposition to violence, and their plans to discuss their ‘outstanding demands’ (which include Sony pulling Resistance from store shelves and making a “substantial donation” to the church’s youth work) in the upcoming meeting.

Now, I’m not against religion in any way shape or form. However, in this case, it seems to me that the Church of England is using a very shaky claim of infringement to basically extort money from Sony. In case you think the Church has unshakable ground to stand on, let me quote you a portion of the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988.

62. Representation of certain artistic works on public display.

(1) This section applies to—

(a) buildings, and
(b) sculptures, models for buildings and works of artistic craftsmanship, if permanently situated in a public place or in premises open to the public.

(2) The copyright in such a work is not infringed by—

(a) making a graphic work representing it,
(b) making a photograph or film of it, or
(c) broadcasting or including in a cable programme service a visual image of it.

(3) Nor is the copyright infringed by the issue to the public of copies, or the broadcasting or inclusion in a cable programme service, of anything whose making was, by virtue of this section, not an infringement of the copyright.

So, as you can see, this section of the Act would seem to absolve Sony on its very face. This portion of the Act covers buildings, and specifically states that a graphic work, photograph, or film representing said building does not infringe any copyright that may exist. In fact, the very idea that the Church owns a copyright on its buildings is questionable, as copyrights are not perpetual, and do expire, at which point the copyrighted work enters the public domain.

Here’s hoping that Sony doesn’t buckle under this ridiculous list of demands. Issuing an apology is all right, and was probably the best course of action from a public relations standpoint. However, giving in to further demands, especially monetary ones, only sets a precedent that the game industry can ill afford.