The Last of Us Part II can’t seem to stay away from controversy. From hacker generated leaks to rumors of crunch culture to a slew of release delays, the rollout of this highly anticipated PlayStation exclusive can’t catch a break.
Another bit of controversy popped up this week when The Last of Us Part II released an extended television spot that received a mostly warm reception from the fans.
All except one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXl9GI1p_Os&t=12s
The spot, which can be viewed in the player above, uses a cover of True Faith in both the standard and extended versions. Ellie is singing bits of the song while we’re treated to some in game clips of her doing battle with humans and infected alike.
However, it has been alleged that the track backing the trailer was used without any credit or compensation given to Anna-Lynne Williams, the original cover’s singer.
Williams is a singer and songwriter from Seattle who has accused Naughty Dog of plagiarizing her work by duplicating her cover of True Faith. Williams said that the singer in the television spot uses the original lyrics that she wrote back in 2010.
She voiced her concerns on this issue via Twitter. The tweet in question has since been deleted.
“Hey, are you aware that the True faith cover you put in your The Last of Us Part II trailer is a replica of my cover that came out 10 years ago?” she said in the now deleted tweet. “I wrote original parts not in the original song that are copied exactly by whoever covered it. I am heartbroken. Your fans seem to have noticed because they’re commenting on my old video thinking it’s the same song. Credit? Compensation? At 3:30 in my song in particular is the vocal part that I wrote which is featured in your trailer exactly.”
Sony and Naughty Dog have remained tight lipped in regards to this accusation. What’s more troubling is that this is not the first time that The Last of Us has been accused of failing to properly credit an artist. A copyrighted map of the Boston subway system created by cartographer Cameron Booth was used in the original game without permission. It was later reported by Booth that she and Naughty Dog settled the matter amicably.
It is unknown at this time if Naughty Dog or Sony have reached out to Williams to address her complaint and accusation of plagiarism, but it will be interesting to see if an agreement will be reached.
That Last of Us Part II releases on June 19, 2020.
