The Pinkertons Sue Take-Two Over Red Dead Redemption 2

If you play any historic wild west games, there's a better than good chance you've crossed wits and guns with the Pinkertons. They were the best-known and often feared independent detectives that did everything from track down criminals to break up unions, and they've shown up in a lot of media. Most recently, and most specifically, they show up in Red Dead Redemption 2 as NPCs and, of course, enemies.

But here's a fun little fact: did you know that the Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations organization is still around? And as it turns out, they're not huge fans of having their likeness showing up in games at least, not unless they're getting paid for it. Which is why they issued a Cease and Desist letter to Take-Two and Rockstar, demanding that they stop distributing copies of Red Dead Redemption 2, demanding royalties, and claiming that the companies had no right to use their agents in their game.

Take-Two, on the other hand, is arguing that Pinkerton agents, being the historical figures that they are, fall under Fair Use, which means they're fair game for anyone or anything.

"[Pinkerton] cannot use trademark law to own the past and prevent creators from including historical references to Pinkerton agents in depictions of the American West,"

Plus, at this point, the Pinkertons have allowed so many other bits of media to use their agents, they're going to find themselves at a legal disadvantage. One of the caveats of copyright is that if you don't defend yours, you'll lose it, which is why many companies like Nintendo and Disney are so brutal in protecting theirs. The Pinkertons don't quite have that history, so deciding to try to protect their IP now is more than likely going to fail.

Still, I can't see the future, and I could very well be wrong