Take-Two Says ‘Take This!’ to Chicago Transit Authority

[WSJ_law_blog]

We haven’t played a video game since the spring of 1985, when, as a dweeby 14 year old, we killed countless hours and brain cells after baseball practice at Tustin Lanes, drinking Slurpees and playing Paperboy. So we can’t say we know much of anything about this Grand Theft Auto IV, which appears to be all the rage.

Fortunately, though, we’ve got an excuse to bone up on Nico Bellic and his mad, violent world: a lawsuit! Take-Two Interactive, the maker of GTA4, filed a lawsuit earlier today against the Chicago Transit Authority, alleging that the CTA recently pulled down advertisements for the game for no reason. Here are stories from Reuters and the AP (we haven’t yet been able to locate the complaint, LB readers).

According to the Reuters report, Take Two has accused the authority and its sales agent, Titan Outdoor, of violating a $300,000 ad campaign agreement that included running poster ads on the sides of buses and transit display spaces throughout the Chicago transit system scheduled for six weeks between April and June.

The suit alleges that the advertisements were reportedly removed following a report by a Fox News affiliate that questioned why the ad was allowed to run after a wave of violent crimes in Chicago.

But it’s not the contractual claim that interests us so much as it is the First Amendment claim, which was also reportedly lodged against the CTA. We don’t remember much First Amendment law, but we remember that there may be First Amendment exceptions for speech that’s obscene or speech that incites violence. We’d love a little help on this: Anyone out there familiar both with the First Amendment and GTA4 that could put forth a plausible defense on the part of the CTA?

Photo: Associated Press