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Exit the Dragons: Bruce Lee characters face legal scrutiny

ArugulaZ

ArugulaZ

Fearful asymmetry
www.nintendolife.com

"Definitely No Legal Issues" Regarding Fei Long Appearing In Future Street Fighters, Says Capcom

Update: Original claim definitively refuted
www.nintendolife.com www.nintendolife.com

According to a member of the Street Fighter V staff, Fei Long may not appear in future Street Fighter games because the estate of Bruce Lee is taking steps to ensure that only "honorable" depictions of the martial artist are offered in the media.

My question is this: how can they possibly enforce this? Bruce Lee is a historical figure; you can't ban characters inspired by him any more than you could sue SNK for including a bishonen version of Andrew Jackson in one of its video games. Beyond that, fair use laws should protect parodies of Bruce Lee, and who's to say a character like Fei Long couldn't fall under that description? Capcom isn't literally claiming that Bruce Lee is in their game, and direct references to him are all the Lee estate can reasonably prevent through legal action.

Bruce Lee has been hugely influential in martial arts, to the point where a thin, shirtless kung fu master has become more of an archetype than a specific person. And plenty of video games have used that archetype, whether it's Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat or Marshall Law in Tekken. It doesn't seem reasonable to just strike them all down, as the Lee estate seems eager to do.
 
Becksworth

Becksworth

Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
Laws vary in different countries, so just because parody should hold true for Fei Long in the US doesn't mean there couldn't still be liability issues in Japan or elsewhere. Also, the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has already proven you don't have to be on solid legal footing to pester people with litigation anyway until they settle with you.
 
Purple

Purple

(She/Her)
This feels very very "slow news day." Either we're reporting someone's random idle thought as fact, or just... having a really obvious means to verify something and just not bothering.
 
ReyVGM

ReyVGM

I think the Bruce Lee Estate missed that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is not supposed to be historically accurate. After all, Sharon Tate wasn't murdered by the Manson family.
 
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