Lindsay Lohan’s Grand Theft Auto lawsuit thrown out of court

Rockstar has prevailed in its legal battle with celebrity Lindsay Lohan.

Lohan kicked off legal proceedings against the developer over two years ago, arguing that Grand Theft Auto V character Lacey Jonas was an unequivocal” reference to her. She later went on to file evidence including pictures of the game discs, adorned with images of the Lacey Jones character and allegations that Rockstar "used a look-a-like model to evoke the persona and image" of Lohan by imitating a photograph that was once taken of her in 2007.

Take-Two has from the offset labelled the accusations as frivolous”, alleging that Lohan was embarking on the lawsuit for publicity purposes”. Regardless, the case was still given the nod to proceed by the New York Supreme Court earlier this year.

In the court case itself Lohan’s lawyers claimed that Jonas’ use of the peace sign, and her clothing, were all callbacks to Lohan, as was a game mission in which Jonas is pursued by paparazzi.

However, the lawsuit has now been completely dismissed by US courts.

Even if we accept plaintiffs’ contentions that the video game depictions are close enough to be considered representations of the respective plaintiffs, plaintiffs’ claims should be dismissed because this video game does not fall under the statutory definitions of advertising” or trade,” the ruling read, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

This video game’s unique story, characters, dialogue, and environment, combined with the player’s ability to choose how to proceed in the game, render it a work of fiction and satire. [The images used in GTA V’s advertising are] not of Lohan herself, but merely the avatar in the game that Lohan claims is a depiction of her.”