When it comes to the Grand Theft Auto series, their extensive use and interpretation of parody with content makes it one of the most memorable modern video game franchises to date. Unfortunately that desire to push the barrier of what’s acceptable has stepped on some toes over the years. The most recent of these cases were Lindsey Lohan and Karen Gravano, according to Kotaku.
Lohan claimed that the developers of Grand Theft Auto V had used her image in one of the game’s advertisements. Specifically, the one with the blonde haired girl in the red bikini holding up a cellphone. For Gravano, the concerns about similar likeness were applied from a story standpoint. They alleged Take Two uses her character’s likeness in their catchphrases and backstory. They took the case to court and lost, as the case was thrown out today. The grounds for dismissal were due to the fact that the defendants didn’t use the “name, portrait, or picture” when it came to the cited instances of usage in the game’s media content. Further more, the fact that these given situations are used in a video game with a unique story and environment of it’s own, it falls under being a work of fiction and satire and therefore is allowed.
You can read the entire decision on the court website here.
