That Lindsay Lohan GTA 5 lawsuit is actually going forward
Cast your mind back to 2014 when Lindsay Lohan set in motion a lawsuit suing GTA 5 devs Rockstar for using her likeness for character Lacey Jonas. Now welcome back to 2016 where a New York Supreme Court judge has actually ruled in Lohan's favour for the case, dismissing all of Rockstar's arguments and letting the lawsuit progress.
Rockstar responded very directly back in 2014 and argued that the claims were "legally meritless," that Lohan was doing it for publicity, and that her claims were made too late. Judge Joan Kennedy responded as follows. "Defendants have not been able to prove, at this juncture of the litigation, that the republication exception to the one year statute of limitations is not applicable to this case because the intended audiences were the same as those of the original publication and the images consistently remained the same."As far as I understand it, that pretty much means that regardless of when Rockstar says Lohan submitted her argument, the similarities between her image and the character of Jonas can't be refuted.
There's also an interesting section in the court document - saved by The Hollywood Reporter - about Rockstar claiming its base in the UK means it does not fall under New York law. Spoiler: that doesn't seem to wash as Rockstar has offices around the world. What do you think? Is Lacey Lindsay? Or should we all go back to more serious matters like the fact that The Division's enemies can't see you when you enter a lift?
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Louise Blain is a journalist and broadcaster specialising in gaming, technology, and entertainment. She is the presenter of BBC Radio 3’s monthly Sound of Gaming show and has a weekly consumer tech slot on BBC Radio Scotland. She can also be found on BBC Radio 4, BBC Five Live, Netflix UK's YouTube Channel, and on The Evolution of Horror podcast. As well as her work on GamesRadar, Louise writes for NME, T3, and TechRadar. When she’s not working, you can probably find her watching horror movies or playing an Assassin’s Creed game and getting distracted by Photo Mode.