Courtrooms

The legal record. Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, decided seven to two at the United States Supreme Court in 2011, which ended the constitutional argument and which almost no telling of this story includes. Also the FTC settlement, which required disclosure rather than imposing a fine, the Hot Coffee class action and its decertification, and the suits that failed.

Part of Grand Theft Auto

54 moments in this segment.

  1. - Exterior of the Apex building, new home of the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC settled with Take-Two and Rockstar on 8 June 2006 over the failure to disclose the Hot Coffee content that was relevant to the game’s rating. The settlement required disclosure, with future violations subject to penalties of up to 11,000 dollars each. No fine was imposed in the settlement itself; the 24.5 million dollars often cited was the cost of the recall. Exterior of the Apex building, new home of the Federal Trade Commission Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 4 x 5 in. or smaller.
  2. - The Capitol from the Apex Building The new home of the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC settled with Take-Two and Rockstar on 8 June 2006 over the failure to disclose the Hot Coffee content that was relevant to the game’s rating. The settlement required disclosure, with future violations subject to penalties of up to 11,000 dollars each. No fine was imposed in the settlement itself; the 24.5 million dollars often cited was the cost of the recall. The Capitol from the Apex Building The new home of the Federal Trade Commission Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 4 x 5 in. or smaller.
  3. - US Supreme Court, 1991 to 1992 term. The 1991 to 1992 Rehnquist Court Seated, from left: Stevens , White , Rehnquist (chief justice), Blackmun , O'Connor Standing, from left: Souter , Scalia , Kennedy , Thomas. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association in 2011, holding that video games are protected speech. His reasoning noted that the studies did not prove a direct causal link, and pointed to the long tradition of violent children’s entertainment. Justices Thomas and Breyer dissented separately.
  4. - ApexBuildingHighsmith. The FTC settled with Take-Two and Rockstar on 8 June 2006 over the failure to disclose the Hot Coffee content that was relevant to the game’s rating. The settlement required disclosure, with future violations subject to penalties of up to 11,000 dollars each. No fine was imposed in the settlement itself; the 24.5 million dollars often cited was the cost of the recall.
  5. - Federal Trade Commission Building. The Federal Trade Commission Building, originally known as the Apex Building, located at 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in the Federal Triangle area of Washington, D.C. The FTC settled with Take-Two and Rockstar on 8 June 2006 over the failure to disclose the Hot Coffee content that was relevant to the game’s rating. The settlement required disclosure, with future violations subject to penalties of up to 11,000 dollars each. No fine was imposed in the settlement itself; the 24.5 million dollars often cited was the cost of the recall.
  6. - United states supreme court building. Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, 564 U.S. 786, was decided here in 2011. The Court struck down a 2005 California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors, 7 to 2, holding that video games are protected speech under the First Amendment. This is the legal endpoint of the entire moral panic and it is routinely omitted. United States Supreme Court building.
  7. - US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of the United States . Washington, D.C. Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, 564 U.S. 786, was decided here in 2011. The Court struck down a 2005 California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors, 7 to 2, holding that video games are protected speech under the First Amendment. This is the legal endpoint of the entire moral panic and it is routinely omitted.
  8. - 77, Jack Thompson Permanently disbarred....YAY!. Posted four days after the Supreme Court of Florida disbarred Jack Thompson on 25 September 2008. Referee Judge Dava Tunis found him guilty of 27 of 31 charged violations, with costs assessed at US$43,675.35.
  9. - US Supreme Court - corrected. United States Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. , USA. Front facade. Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, 564 U.S. 786, was decided here in 2011. The Court struck down a 2005 California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors, 7 to 2, holding that video games are protected speech under the First Amendment. This is the legal endpoint of the entire moral panic and it is routinely omitted.
  10. - Supreme Court to Decide if Video Games are Covered by the First Ammendment. Contemporaneous reporting as the Supreme Court took up the case in November 2010, seven months before it ruled.
  11. - Violent video games: protected by the first amendment?. USA Today frames the First Amendment question on the eve of oral argument. California defended the statute on the ground that violent games were harmful to minors.
  12. - Free Speech vs. Brutal Gameplay – SCOTUS 08-1448 | Schwarzenegger v. EMA | Remastered Audio. Remastered audio of the same argument under the original caption, Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association, docket 08-1448. The case name changed when Jerry Brown succeeded Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor.
  13. - Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association: Oral Argument - November 02, 2010. The full Supreme Court oral argument of 2 November 2010 in the case that became Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association. At issue was a 2005 California law banning the sale or rental of violent games to minors.
  14. - Antonin Scalia - Caricature. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association in 2011, holding that video games are protected speech. His reasoning noted that the studies did not prove a direct causal link, and pointed to the long tradition of violent children’s entertainment. Justices Thomas and Breyer dissented separately. Antonin Scalia - Caricature.
  15. - Panorama of United States Supreme Court Building at Dusk. Panorama of the west facade of United States Supreme Court Building at dusk in Washington, D.C., United States of America. Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, 564 U.S. 786, was decided here in 2011. The Court struck down a 2005 California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors, 7 to 2, holding that video games are protected speech under the First Amendment. This is the legal endpoint of the entire moral panic and it is routinely omitted.
  16. - Tallahassee FL Supreme Court bldg02. Tallahassee, Florida : Home to the Supreme Court of Florida since 1948. The Florida Bar proceedings against Jack Thompson ended in his disbarment in 2008, for conduct toward tribunals and opposing counsel rather than for his opinions about games.
  17. - Tallahassee FL Supreme Court bldg03. Tallahassee, Florida : Home to the Supreme Court of Florida since 1948. The Florida Bar proceedings against Jack Thompson ended in his disbarment in 2008, for conduct toward tribunals and opposing counsel rather than for his opinions about games.
  18. - Tallahassee FL Supreme Court bldg04. Tallahassee, Florida : Home to the Supreme Court of Florida since 1948. The Florida Bar proceedings against Jack Thompson ended in his disbarment in 2008, for conduct toward tribunals and opposing counsel rather than for his opinions about games.
  19. - Yee: Ruling Puts Corporate Interests Before Children. Leland Yee, who authored the struck-down California statute, responds on camera the day he lost at the Supreme Court. Naming who claims what matters here, since the campaigners and the industry both had their own agendas.
  20. - U.S. Supreme Court To Rule On Violent Video Games Today!.flv. A re-upload of ruling-day broadcast coverage. The decision came on 27 June 2011 and ended a legal campaign that had run since the mid-1990s.
  21. - Violent video game supreme court ruling. Local Baltimore coverage of the ruling, including retailer reaction. The ESRB rating system remained voluntary and industry-run, which is what the Court left standing.
  22. - SCOTUS Strikes Down California Video Game Ban. Ruling-day reporting on the decision striking California's 2005 sale-to-minors law, enacted in 2005 and commonly cited as 2006.
  23. - Violent Video Game Limits Rejected by U.S. Supreme Court. Bloomberg reports the 7 to 2 decision on 27 June 2011. The campaign to legally restrict the sale of violent games to minors ended here, and it lost.
  24. - Citing Violence in Fairy Tales, Justices Strike Down Calif. Video Game Law. PBS NewsHour engages Justice Antonin Scalia's majority reasoning, which pointed to the long tradition of violent children's entertainment and held that the studies did not prove a direct causal link. Justices Thomas and Breyer dissented separately.
  25. - Choper Discusses Supreme Court Violent Video Game Ruling. Berkeley constitutional law professor Jesse Choper gives legal analysis on the day of the ruling. The holding placed video games alongside books and film as protected expression.
  26. - Court rules First Amendment protects violent video games. CBS News reports the ruling on the day it came down. The Court struck the California law 7 to 2, holding that video games are protected speech under the First Amendment. This is the legal endpoint of the entire moral panic and it is routinely left out of the story.
  27. - Supreme Court To Rule On Video Games. A short bulletin anticipating the decision. The case had been argued eight months earlier and was among the most closely watched of the term for the games industry.
  28. - Brown v. EMA: Video Games and the First Amendment. A Cornell Federalist Society panel dissects the decision months after it issued. Scalia's opinion engaged the psychological research directly and found it did not establish causation.
  29. - Free Speech - The Supreme Court Case Against Violent Video Games - Extra Credits. An explainer on the free speech stakes, made shortly after the ruling. The decision means no US law can bar the sale of a violent game to a minor.
  30. - Cleburne County Alabama Courthouse 2012. This is a 2012 photograph of the Cleburne County Courthouse located in Heflin, Alabama. Strickland v. Sony was filed in Alabama in August 2005 after Devin Moore, convicted of murder in 2005, said he had played Vice City. Summary judgment was granted to Take-Two on 29 July 2009 and the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed in September 2010. The case is routinely cited as establishing something about games and violence; it established the opposite.
  31. - Etowah County, Alabama Courthouse. This is a photograph of the Etowah County Courthouse in Gadsden, Alabama. Strickland v. Sony was filed in Alabama in August 2005 after Devin Moore, convicted of murder in 2005, said he had played Vice City. Summary judgment was granted to Take-Two on 29 July 2009 and the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed in September 2010. The case is routinely cited as establishing something about games and violence; it established the opposite.
  32. - Old Bailey with roof of Central Criminal Court. Arion Kurtaj, who leaked 90 clips of unreleased GTA VI footage to GTAForums in September 2022, received a hospital order rather than a prison sentence. Old Bailey with roof of Central Criminal Court.
  33. - Florida Supreme Court building. The Florida Supreme Court building in Tallahassee, FL. The Florida Bar proceedings against Jack Thompson ended in his disbarment in 2008, for conduct toward tribunals and opposing counsel rather than for his opinions about games.
  34. - BBC Sued Over 'Grand Theft Auto' Movie. Take-Two brought action against the BBC over a drama about the making of the series. Rockstar has litigated over depictions of itself as well as being litigated against.
  35. - A memorial for Antonin Scalia at the foot of steps to the Supreme Court of the United States. After the death of Antonin Scalia on February 12/13, 2016, memorial items were left at the foot of steps to the Supreme Court. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association in 2011, holding that video games are protected speech. His reasoning noted that the studies did not prove a direct causal link, and pointed to the long tradition of violent children’s entertainment. Justices Thomas and Breyer dissented separately.
  36. - GTA V Exec Suing for $150 Million in Royalties - GS News Update. Contemporaneous reporting on the royalties claim at filing. The litigation ended on 7 February 2019 in a confidential settlement with each party bearing its own costs, so nothing about who was right is public.
  37. - Former Rockstar North President Suing Company for $150 Million - IGN News. Leslie Benzies filed against Rockstar and Take-Two on 13 April 2016 claiming US$150 million in unpaid royalties. He had been Rockstar North president and producer across GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, IV and V.
  38. - Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey (1). Arion Kurtaj, who leaked 90 clips of unreleased GTA VI footage to GTAForums in September 2022, received a hospital order rather than a prison sentence. Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey (1).
  39. - Should We Regulate Video Game Violence?. A legal podcast asks whether any regulation of game violence survives Brown v. EMA, revisited during the 2018 political push to blame games for mass shootings.
  40. - Justice Scalia. Gravesite of Justice Antonin Scalia at Fairfax Memorial Park in Fairfax, VA. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association in 2011, holding that video games are protected speech. His reasoning noted that the studies did not prove a direct causal link, and pointed to the long tradition of violent children’s entertainment. Justices Thomas and Breyer dissented separately.
  41. - The Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey. Arion Kurtaj, who leaked 90 clips of unreleased GTA VI footage to GTAForums in September 2022, received a hospital order rather than a prison sentence. The Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey.
  42. - Former Rockstar North President's Lawsuit Against Take-Two Hits a Snag - IGN News. A setback in the Benzies litigation a year before it concluded. Because the settlement is confidential, no outcome can be inferred in either direction.
  43. - That Time Videogames Went to the Supreme Court (Brown v. EMA) - Same Name, Different Game Gaiden. A retrospective walkthrough of the case history and the 7 to 2 holding. Almost no popular account of the Grand Theft Auto controversies includes the Supreme Court ending.
  44. - Central Criminal Court of England and Wales (The Old Bailey) Ceiling. Here is a photograph taken looking of the dome ceiling in the Grand Hall of the Central Criminal Court (The Old Bailey). Taken with kind permission of the administration. NOT to be used commercially. Located in London, England. Arion Kurtaj, who leaked 90 clips of unreleased GTA VI footage to GTAForums in September 2022, received a hospital order rather than a prison sentence.
  45. - Take-Two vs GTA Modding. A survey of Take-Two's legal actions against modders. The company issued a cease and desist to the OpenIV tool on 5 June 2017 and reversed within about two weeks after player backlash.
  46. - Jack Thompson: The Man Disbarred Over Video Games. A long-form account of the disbarment. The grounds were making false statements to tribunals and disparaging and humiliating litigants and other lawyers. They were not his opinions about video games.
  47. - Lapsus$ GTA 6 Hacker Confined To Mental Hospital After Hacking Behind The Police's Back. #gta6. In December 2023 Kurtaj received an indefinite hospital order, detention in a secure hospital until doctors judge he is no longer a danger. This is not a prison sentence. He has since been released from hospital and is awaiting retrial.
  48. - GTA 6 Hacker May Spend Life In Secure Hospital After Indefinite Hospital Order Sentencing. Same-day reporting on the hospital order. The court heard Kurtaj is autistic and had breached Rockstar while already in police custody, which is why it treated him as it did.
  49. - Lapsus$ Teens Brought to Court in UK | cybernews.com. Reporting from the August 2023 UK proceedings that convicted Arion Kurtaj over the September 2022 leak of 90 clips of unreleased Grand Theft Auto VI footage to GTAForums.
  50. - Jack Thompson Disbarment Day!. A retrospective on the disbarment and its sustained findings. Thompson has not practised law since 2008 despite announcing an intention to resume in September 2009.
  51. - Jack Thompson v. Rockstar (with Jay Brandstetter from I'm From the Internet), Part 1: Bully bulli. A detailed reconstruction of the litigation over Bully, which Thompson sought to block before release. Judge Ronald Friedman dismissed the complaint in 2006, finding no reason to restrict sales.
  52. - Jack Thompson v. Rockstar (with Jay Brandstetter from I'm From the Internet), Part 2: Bully bully. The second part carries the Bully litigation through to Take-Two's own suit, filed 14 March 2007, seeking to enjoin Thompson from bringing public nuisance actions against unreleased games.
  53. - Jack Thompson's Disbarment Statement (Scandalous Games 5th Anniversary Special). Thompson's own disbarment statement examined against the referee's findings. He filed repeatedly against the industry across a decade and did not win a judgment in any of those actions.
  54. - Before GTA 6 — The Darkest Legal Case In Gaming History. A recap of Strickland v. Sony, brought after Devin Moore killed two officers and a dispatcher in Fayette, Alabama. Take-Two won summary judgment on 29 July 2009 and the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed in September 2010.
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