Updated 10/20/2023: The recently released Spider-Man 2 is also missing from the Chrysler Building. In its place is the same building that replaced it in Spider-Man Miles Morales, though this time with a new coat of paint.
See below for comparison shots of the Chrysler Building in Spider-Man 1, a base PlayStation 4 capture, and the new building in Spider-Man 2.
Sony did not respond to our request for comment in time for publication (though it’s safe to assume the reason it gave us three years ago may still be here. More on that below).
Original story continues below…
One of New York City’s most famous landmarks, the Chrysler Building, was removed for the recent release of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Not only was the building featured in Marvel’s Spider-Man video game from 2018, but it has also been featured in many Marvel media over the past several decades. However, with the building coming under new ownership in 2019, it looks like the Chrysler Building may be less visible. We spoke to a copyright attorney about the ways buildings can be protected by copyright and to developer Insomniac Games about why it had to change its version of the New York City skyline.
The Chrysler Building opened on May 27, 1930 and stood as the tallest building in the world until the Empire State Building was completed a mile away in May 1931. Since its completion, the Chrysler Building has remained not only one of the most iconic skyscrapers in New York City, but also one of the most iconic skyscrapers in American architecture. The Art Deco building, which rises to 1,046 feet with 77 floors, is particularly famous for its eight eagles, which soar from the exterior of the 61st floor.
The structure has also been the same. Staple In Marvel comics, movies and now games. It has a lot of highlights. Marvel Cinematic Universethe Spider-Man Animated Seriesand different Spider-Mans Film adaptation And Movie posters. In Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4, the Chrysler Building was one of the game’s 47 iconic landmarks, which players had to photograph for side missions, and was completely rebuilt for the game’s open world. But now, if you go to the same spot on the map in Males Morales, you see an obscure skyscraper. However, in the recent PlayStation 5 remaster of the first Spider-Man, the Chrysler Building still exists.
The Chrysler Building is in Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered (left) but not in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (right).
Since 2008, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government, has owned a 90 percent majority of the building, with New York-based real estate investment company Tushman Spear Properties owning only 10 percent of the building. Despite managing this property. Both companies owned the building percentage when Insomniac’s first Spider-Man game was released. But in January 2019, a year and a half before the release of Miles Morales, the two parties put the building up for sale, which was bought by the Austrian company Cigna Group and New York real estate in March of that year. Development Company RFR Holding LLC. Interestingly, this building was purchased in 2019 for $150 million. reported $300 million. ($433 million inflated to 2019) It was purchased in 2001 and was significantly less than the $800 million ($957 million inflated to 2019) Abu Dhabi Investment Council. allegedly spent in 2008 for the majority of its building and the retail space next door.
Until 1990, architectural works such as the Chrysler Building could be protected under copyright, no different than other forms of art. According to the United States Copyright Office, an architectural work is defined as “the design of a building as embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a building, architectural plan, or drawing. […] Examples of works that meet this requirement include houses, office buildings, churches and museums. Conversely, the office will refuse to register bridges, cloverleafs, dams, walkways, tents, recreational vehicles, or boats (although a houseboat permanently attached to a dock may be registered as a construction work). can).
While copyright owners won’t go after your photo of a building, they protect themselves against more obvious infringements, such as another company copying a building’s design for their own purposes, and Owners, on occasion, go after companies. Copyright protected architecture on merchandise.
“If you just have a basic building block that looks like a normal building, you can’t go and sue every building in Manhattan and say, ‘You stole my idea. What the building looks like,'” says Michael Lee, founder of Lee Law, which focuses on brand protection, intellectual property, and influencer law. Sports Informer. “You can’t protect the functionality of something, but you can protect the artistic parts of it. So when it comes to some architecture, whether it has big spires on top, or curved glass, Even if you’re looking at something and you see that it’s unique and different, that’s fully protected by copyright. So you can’t reproduce it in another building or in a derivative work like a t-shirt, model, or video game. To insert, you need permission from the copyright owner to reproduce the protected object – which in this case might be the Chrysler Building.”
The Chrysler Building in New York City
In fact, the Chrysler Building is protected under copyright, and so its owners and IP holders are free to decide whether or not it appears in a piece of media, such as Miles Morales. For whatever reason, SIGNA Group or RFR Holding LLC decided they didn’t want their building to appear in the game, even if the previous owners had allowed it. And that’s perfectly within the rights of the owners of the Chrysler Building, no matter how famous that building is or if it only appeared in a game two years ago. According to what we heard from Insomniac, the developer tried to get permission, but apparently wasn’t able to.
“When creating our representation of the city, we wanted to include as many landmarks as possible so we could increase the sense of immersion,” said James Stevenson, community director at Insomniac. Sports Informer When asked for comment. “Sometimes the dialogue didn’t work to use those locations, which was the case with the Chrysler Building in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales.“
The Chrysler Building on Spider-Man Remastered’s map (left) and the missing building on Miles Morales’ map (right).
This does not mean that everyone will obey these copyright laws or that the inclusion of a building is not protected under fair use. As an example, Lee says that if a film has a split-second shot of the Empire State Building in the background, it can be argued that this is fair use. Or a company may be willing to take a risk without obtaining proper clearance. On the other hand, doing so could expose the company to potential lawsuits, which is why many companies have entire teams dedicated to clearing the rights for this kind of stuff, Lee says. In the case of Miles Morales, an open-world game where players can climb each building and inspect each building in depth, as they previously could with Chrysler in Spider-Man, including this permission Will almost certainly open up with level detail. Insomniac, Marvel, and Sony to potential lawsuits.
“You’re close, you’re seeing it, and the more conspicuous the use, the more likely it is to be considered a violation,” Lee says.
It seems Insomniac didn’t want to take any chances, even if it meant giving up a prominent part of the New York City skyline.
For more on Miles Morales, check out our review.