Taito not happy about the use of Space Invaders at the Leipzig show, considering legal action

If you follow the consumer game media at all then you probably have heard of the Leipzig Game Show that has been going on in Germany. You also might have heard of the controversial Space Invaders-related exhibit which is being touted as art. Well Taito doesn’t care what it’s called, they are thinking of taking legal action:

TAITO is seriously considering all available options–including legal actions against the infringer and, if necessary, the Games Convention exhibitor involved–in order to end this unauthorized and impermissible misuse of the Space Invaders content and to protect TAITO’s intellectual properties.

Ouch! Of course it doesn’t help that the theme also has to do with the World Trade Center Towers, September 11th, and the whole war on terrorism. I imagine that Taito doesn’t want to be linked to this sort of thing which is probably what caught their attention. Hit the jump for Taito’s full press release.

UPDATE: A response from the artist:

——statement of the artist——————
After three days of a steady downward spiral in public discussion of the
piece, I have just given my agreement to the organizers of the Leipzig
Games Convention to simply turn off the installation Invaders! While I
realize the dangerous precedent of allowing the lowest common
denominator dictate what is and is not a valid form of expression,
unfortunately the current tone has totally obfuscated the original aims
of the piece. While I take full responsibility for the uncomfortable
ambiguity of certain aspects of this work, it was never created to
merely provoke controversy for controversy’s sake, and unfortunately,
this is what the piece has now become. The American response to this
work has been, frankly, immature, and lacking the sophistication and
consideration that other parts of the world have so far shown the work.
Contrary to previous reports, I am an American, and it saddens me that
we as a people remain so profoundly unable to process this event outside
of some obscure, but tacitly understood, criteria of purely anesthetized
artistic representation. Due to these profound misunderstandings, I
simply feel that from an artistic point of view, the work has lost the
ability to have any valuable impact, poetic or otherwise. I have not
been pressured by the Leipziger Messe, nor by the Computerspiele Museum
in this decision — to the contrary, they have offered their support in
defending the right of artists to speak freely, and in whatever context
they may choose.

August, 22nd 2008 Douglas Edric Stanley

And in case you’re curious, here’s what the exhibit looked like