COURTNEY LOVE's Attorney Slams ACTIVISION For Misuse Of COBAIN's Image

Courtney Love's attorney spoke to TMZ.com about the use of Love's late husband Kurt Cobain's avatar in the new Guitar Hero 5 video game. The game drew heavy fire online after it arrived in stores and footage surfaced of the Cobain avatar singing songs by BON JOVI, PUBLIC ENEMY and BUSH.

Love's attorney told TMZ.com Cobain's widow did give permission for the game makers to use Kurt's name and likeness — but she never, ever signed off on a deal that would allow them to make Kurt sing BON JOVI tunes in the game.

Love's lawyer said, "Activision is exploiting Kurt's image in a manner anathema to the very essence of his music, spirit and essence.

"I, along with Ms. Cobain, hope those who love Kurt's music strongly voice their sentiments to Activision and demand his image not be debased by singing the songs of BON JOVI."

Meanwhile, Cobain's former NIRVANA bandmates Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic issued a joint statement Thursday expressing their disappointment that Kurt's avatar could be used to play songs by other artists.

"We want people to know that we are dismayed and very disappointed in the way a facsimile of Kurt is used in the Guitar Hero game," they said in the statement. "The name and likeness of Kurt Cobain are the sole property of his estate; we have no control whatsoever in that area.

"While we were aware of Kurt's image being used with two NIRVANA songs, we didn't know players have the ability to unlock the character. This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in 're-locking' Kurt's character so that this won't continue in the future.

"It's hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists' music alongside cartoon characters. Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better."