Church of England unhappy at Sony

i think this is actually quite an interesting case.

i don't know whether Sony (or the developers of RFOM, more specifically) got permission, or what, but the case does open a fairly significant can of worms for the gaming industry.

in Films and TV (in the UK, US and Au anyway), permission must be sought for location shooting. not just to be in the area, and potentially disrupt normal business, but for using locations at all. just like the makers of film/tv need release forms for everyone in shot too (there are some limitations on this, if it's a large crowd scene, or whatever).

so if film and tv makers need permission to use the exterior of a building in a shot, why should videogames be any different?

from what i understand, the game quite clearly identifies the cathedral as Manchester Cathedral during the level (correct me if i'm wrong, i haven't actually played the level in question) and the layout is purportedly reasonably true-to-life, so it is essentially a film-set.

now here is where the case becomes interesting.
i'm pretty sure that the film-set analogy is what will propel this case, since i don't think you need permission to replicate a real setting within a film studio.
so no permission would've been needed to make the Colosseum in Gladiator, or The Old Bailey in V for Vendetta, for examples, since they were never actually filmed, whereas The Jury was actually filmed within The Old Bailey, so permission would've needed to have been sought to use it.
i'm not sure whether permission is legally required to use the name of the places though, or if it's merely a courtesy deal.

so anyway, i find this case quite interesting.

Money.

it could possibly be mis-reporting on someone's behalf. people know who "Sony" is, but only a (metaphorical) handful know Insomniac by name.

i think Insomniac is also a second-party developer, so they mightn't even own the IPs they create.