GamesFightingMultiversus’If you’re a billion dollar company advertising your game, ask permission!': Charlie the Unicorn creator chews out Warner Bros after MultiVersus ad uses his work without approvalWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesFightingMultiversus’If you’re a billion dollar company advertising your game, ask permission!': Charlie the Unicorn creator chews out Warner Bros after MultiVersus ad uses his work without approvalWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Player First Games)
Charlie the Unicorn creator Jason Steele has given Warner Bros. a disapproving finger wag after a MultiVersus advert used audio from the short film without so much as a “pretty please” from the multi-billion dollar corporation.
When questioned on why it was an issue, equating it to a TikTok audio, Steele responded: “I do not care if people use my work in non-commercial projects. If you yourself want to use the audio from Charlie the Unicorn for a meme, go right ahead. If you’re a billion dollar company advertising your game, ask permission!”
A very valid and fair point, if you ask me. A simple “are we cool to use this” goes a long way, especially when it’s a larger corporation rather than someone on TikTok with 10,000 followers with nothing to advertise. Steele also provided a little extra nuancein a Reddit thread,reiterating that his main issue lies with a large corporation directly piggybacking off his creation without permission.
“People should be allowed to use and remix art!” Steele wrote. “I’ve seen a number of references to my work in big-company projects before. For example, there’s a dead unicorn with an enchanted kidney named Charlie in World of Warcraft. This is fine! It’s completely within fair-use laws. Using my audio directly is not fair use.”
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The whole thing seems like a level-headed and reasonable response from Steele. Calling out those responsible appropriately while acknowledging this likely fell on the shoulders of overworked and underpaid folk is the kind of nuance often left on the table in these situations, and I feel like Steele handled it pretty well. Better than I likely would’ve, that’s for sure.
The original X post has since been taken down on the MultiVersus page, though the account has yet to further acknowledge its misstep. Whether it does or not, the scene is another unfortunate stain on the game’s record—in November, it copped some major blame from Warner Bros. bigwigs for contributing to a hefty loss at the company, being specifically namedas the reason for a $100 million writedown.
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