Take-Two sues Chicago Transit Authority
Publisher takes the city's public-transportation division to court over "outrageous decision" to yank $300,000 Grand Theft Auto IV ad campaign.
After the Chicago Transit Authority pulled an ad campaign for Grand Theft Auto IV last month, a representative of the city dismissed the notion that Take-Two Interactive could sue the CTA for an abridgment of its First Amendment rights.
"The CTA has the right to regulate and establish guidelines for advertising on its properties," the authority representative told GameSpot at the time.
However, today GameSpot confirmed a Reuters report that Take-Two has filed suit against the CTA, alleging not only a violation of its free-speech rights, but also a contractual agreement.
"Although we prefer to resolve these issues amicably," a Take-Two spokesperson said in a statement, "the CTA has refused to discuss with us its outrageous decision to pull advertising for the critically acclaimed game Grand Theft Auto IV while running ads for other forms of popular entertainment with similar content, including mature-themed TV shows and R-rated movies."
The suit was filed against the CTA as well as Titan Outdoor LLC, its external advertising agent. Take-Two is asking for an order that the CTA run the ads again, and pay at least $300,000 in damages. The six-week campaign of 385 ads was barely underway when the CTA decided to yank the advertising spots.
A CTA representative said at the time that the decision to pull the campaign was made not because of complaints over the GTA IV ads, but due to complaints over a series of ads that Take-Two ran in 2004 for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. That campaign was worth $90,000 to the CTA, and due to the fact that the ads had run their course by the time it became an issue, they didn't need to be pulled.
According to a CTA representative, the Grand Theft Auto IV campaign cost Take-Two Interactive $316,000, but the city's take of that would have been at most $205,400 after Titan had taken its cut. After the ads were pulled, the CTA said that Take-Two would not be charged for the aborted campaign.
Content you might like…
Users who looked at this article also looked at these content items.
Hot Stories
Newsmakers
-
Tekken 6 Interview: Katsuhiro Harada
The father of the fighting franchise's discusses the new characters and mechanics, development difficulties, downloadable content plans, and the series' evolution. Full Story
- Posted Nov 3, 2009 3:47 am GMT
-
BioShock 2 Interview: Two Characters
Creative director Jordan Thomas discusses two non-player characters from the upcoming BioShock 2. Full Story
- Posted Nov 2, 2009 10:43 pm GMT
Featured Stories
-
Activision Blizzard posts $15 million profit, revenue up $23 million
World's top publisher turns small profit on $703 million in sales; $4.05 billion 2009 outlook maintained despite concerns about holiday consumer spending. Full Story
- Posted Nov 5, 2009 10:08 pm GMT
- 135 Comments
-
International game sales down 6% over Q3
Aggregated chart data shows US, UK, and Japanese markets all shrinking; Dragon Quest IX, Wii Sports Resort, Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver, Madden NFL, and Halo 3: ODST top sellers. Full Story
- Posted Nov 5, 2009 7:22 pm GMT
- 39 Comments
-
Sony sued over PS3 firmware update problems
Owners of bricked systems file suit on behalf of everyone who downloaded system update 3.0 or 3.01; demand unspecified damages. Full Story
- Posted Nov 5, 2009 1:29 am GMT
- 707 Comments
-
Venezuela to jail violent-game merchants
National Assembly of Hugo Chavez-led country signs off on bill that would see purveyors of "war" games and toys face up to five years in prison. Full Story
- Posted Nov 5, 2009 11:13 pm GMT
- 460 Comments
-
Konami six-month profit falls 81.3%
Konami's MGS4-less fiscal half-year creates substantial shortfall, as net income slips to $24 million on revenues of $1.26 billion. Full Story
- Posted Nov 5, 2009 6:32 pm GMT
- 75 Comments
Related Game
- Rockstar Games
- Rockstar North
- Modern Action Adventure
- Release: Apr 29, 2008 »
- PEGI: 18+







dreamtupinlies posted May 6, 2008 10:48 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)