Earlier today, a New York state appellate court directed a trial court to dismiss Lindsey Lohan's lawsuit against Take-Two Interactive. The controversial actress claimed that Grand Theft Auto V misappropriated her likeness with a character named Lacey Jonas who goes to drastic measures to dodge the paparazzi in the game. She went on to allege that the game referenced her role in Mean Girls and a West Hollywood hotel where she once lived, while she also said that the character's appearance in publicity materials was actually based on a photo taken on Lohan back in 2007.
Mob Wives star Karen Gravano brought a similar lawsuit against Take-Two over Grand Theft Auto V, and despite the fact that it seems clear on the surface that characters in the game were based on the duo, that simply wasn't enough for a lawsuit to move forward, hence why it's now been thrown out.
"Both Gravano’s and Lohan’s respective causes of action under Civil Rights Law § 51 must fail because defendants did not use [plaintiffs’] name, portrait, or picture," the court said in regards to why the case has been thrown out. "Despite Gravano’s contention that the video game depicts her, defendants never referred to Gravano by name or used her actual name in the video game, never used Gravano herself as an actor for the video game, and never used a photograph of her. As to Lohan’s claim that an avatar in the video game is she and that her image is used in various images, defendants also never referred to Lohan by name or used her actual name in the video game, never used Lohan herself as an actor for the video game, and never used a photograph of Lohan."
This is a big win for Take-Two Interactive, but given the success of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, they probably wouldn't have been too worried about having to settle up with either woman had it reached that stage. It will be interesting if this attempted lawsuit has an impact on future parodies in the series.