Lindsay Lohan sues Grand Theft Auto V makers for 'using her image'

Actress Lindsay Lohan is suing game devs Rockstar and Take-Two for allegedly copying her into their Grand Theft Auto V (GTAV) game. Grand Theft Auto Lindsay Lohan lookalike Lohan claims that the character of the rather vapid actress "Lacey Jonas" in the game amounts to using her likeness without permission and has accused …

[Alien Doctor 1.1]

Looks more like...

Brandy Ledford from Andromeda in the article picture to me.

[g e]

Re: Looks more like...

Seconded, having just googled her. Much more like her than Lohan

[Ian Yates]

Re: Looks more like...

Yeah... I didn't think of Lohan when I first saw the image... Maybe she needs a new revenue stream?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Looks more like...

Hollywood actresses all look the same anyway.

[Jamie Jones]

Re: Looks more like...

It just looks to me like a generic blonde stereotype, not like anyone in particular

[Fungus Bob]

Re: Looks more like...

"a generic blonde stereotype"

Yup, that'd be Lindsay Lohan....

[ItsNotMe]

Re: Looks more like...

Lindsay...have you started drinking again? You know how irrational you get when you do that. Please be a doll and stop...again.

[LarsG]

Re: Looks more like...

Can't see any powder around the nose... So it can't be her can it?

[Mr Shouty]

"Rockstar and Take-Two’s use of her likeness was done solely to make money"

And her lawsuit isn't?

Can't see the resemblance myself. Could possibly be due to the fact the artist's work doesn't count for years of alcohol and drug abuse.

Whatever

[Tank boy]

Re: "Rockstar and Take-Two’s use of her likeness was done solely to make money"

Dammit you beat me to it.

[Destroy All Monsters]

Re: "Rockstar and Take-Two’s use of her likeness was done solely to make money"

Making money? So immoral!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "Rockstar and Take-Two’s use of her likeness was done solely to make money"

The point of the lawsuit is that she's entitled to make money from her own image and other people aren't.

[Tom 13]

Re: "Rockstar and Take-Two’s use of her likeness was done solely to make money"

Except that in the US, that isn't a valid basis for a lawsuit. Especially as a public figure she is very, very subject to the parody exception.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: "Rockstar and Take-Two’s use of her likeness was done solely to make money"

And the next version includes a crack-lady-of-negotiable-affection who looks exactly like Ms Lohan - with extra points if you kill her

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "Rockstar and Take-Two’s use of her likeness was done solely to make money"

"The point of the lawsuit is that she's entitled to make money from her own image and other people aren't."

Is she? Aren't they? I don't remember voting for that.

[A J]

Re: "Rockstar and Take-Two’s use of her likeness was done solely to make money"

But it wasn't for the money, it was done solely for the LoL's.

[Tom 13]

Re: "Rockstar and Take-Two’s use of her likeness was done solely to make money"

I was thinking along the same line: character doesn't look skanky enough to be Lindsay.

Even if it did, in the US: Parody!

[John 110]

What!!?

That's NOT Lindsay Lohan? I'm not buying it then. What a gyp!!

[hplasm]

Well then-

El Reg's SPB better watch out...

[Peter Simpson 1]

Re: Well then-

No worries...the aircraft looks nothing like its namesake, and contains far fewer banned substances.

[Captain DaFt]

Re: Well then-

I don't know... It is rather thin, and those wings do rather resemble spread legs.

http://regmedia.co.uk/2013/09/22/lohan_team_vulture_2.jpg

[Peter Simpson 1]

Re: Well then-

Yeah, but the paintjob is far better than the human version.

[fishman]

Re: Well then-

But it gets high and then crashes.

[NogginTheNog]

"The cover for the game features a woman that could arguably be said to look like Lohan"

Ha! She wishes.

[GregC]

Having done that side mission in the game

The character struck me as more of a general representation of the sort of vapid, airheaded bint that seems to pass for celebrity these days than anyone in particular. Ms Lohan shouldn't take it personally, she's one of many.

[ShadowedOne]

Re: Having done that side mission in the game

If her argument is that she is the definitive vapid, airheaded bint, well...the case might be a slam-dunk for her..

[GregC]

Re: Having done that side mission in the game

You have a point....

Can I claim Paris Hilton as prior art?

[Tom 13]

Re: Having done that side mission in the game

Her only sort of hook is the story line following some of her exploits so closely. But at that, you're allowed to use it. See Kitty Kelly, any of her "unauthorized" biographies.

[NoneSuch]

Makes sense as Lindsay Lohan is obviously the only bikini wearing blonde in California.

https://www.google.com/search?q=bikini+blonde+california&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=HlW1U7H8N4qYqAaWvIHwDw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1738&bih=1490

[DNTP]

A person who LIVES as a parody of society should understand about fair use and such… but then is suing over it being MORE or LESS in character?

[Anonymous Coward]

It probably is a parody of her

But the character is sufficiently different that she will have a hard time proving it, especially as the physical appearance is so different

[disgruntled yank]

It is unequivocal?

It might be undeniable, or attorneys might prefer to believe so.

[Neil Barnes]

"a mobile that could arguably be said to look like Lohan"

It's the rounded corners that give it away.

[Anonymous Coward]

Nah, cant be her.

No track marks in the arms, no teeth missing from meth abuse and no drooping eyelids or yellowing from jaundice brought on by excessive alcohol consumption.

Tell the daft bitch to get a grip and jog on...

[Steve Evans]

Ha...

Just because they're rendered on a two dimensional surface, it doesn't make them as shallow as you Lohan!

[Steve Crook]

Fail.

"The cover for the game also features a woman holding a mobile that could arguably be said to look like Lohan"

It's going to fail. The mobile looks nothing like Lohan.

[VinceH]

Re: Fail.

Dagnammit! That was going to be my line!

[g e]

Used her VOICE ?

How hammered was she not to realise she was in a voice booth for Rockstar when that got recorded?

Unless they somehow stole (actionable) or got a royalty-free (tough titties, Lohan) bunch of her speech then that shows she knows exactly what was going on, excepting the afore-alluded-to hammeredness.

It could of course be an intentional and cynical tie-up between Lushy Lohan and Rockstar to generate coverage, let's not rule that out.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a fair cop

Rockstar have been caught red handed here and deserve to pay:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BrnkUr2IcAAgwfJ.jpg

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: It's a fair cop

Very good. Has this been submitted to Private Eye's Lookalikes?

[jixer08]

Looks more like Kate Upton to me

[jai]

The cover for the game...

Actually, the girl on the cover "could arguably be said to look like" Shelby Welinder, the model that Rockstar hired.

Perhaps she can now sue Lohan for trying to appropriate her image?

[Jamie Jones]

Re: The cover for the game...

:-)

good catch, Jai!

http://x1.fjcdn.com/comments/This is Shelby Welinder. She was the original model for _bcc24a2303ddd79c17cf9cfb07897b47.jpg

[GBE]

I thought LL _was_ a parody.

You're not going to tell me all that dim-wittedness is for real are you? She's clearly devoting her whole _life_ as a 24/7 performance that parodies the pointlessly rich and famous.

Well done Lindsay!

[JamesPond]

There's no such thing as bad publicity

A teener says this is just a ploy to increase LLs profile. Lets face it, her acting career is down the tubes, she's got to something to deserve the celeb title to get on the next Celebrity Big Brother.

[PassingStrange]

Re: There's no such thing as bad publicity

Had the same thought - even chose the same title. Ah, well, serve me right for not reading down the full thread first.

[Neil Stansbury]

Be careful El Reg...

She looks just like a rocket plane going into LEO - you guys could be next, the likeness is remarkable, and you've even flagrantly named it after her...

[southen bastard]

I can see the next up grade has her as a worthless crack whore, that can be used and abused ( much more like her real life) or that just stagers out on the road trying for tricks from speeding cars, and is now just life carnage (just like her real life)

[Frank N. Stein]

Lohan is reaching pretty far with this lawsuit. The picture in this article does not look at all like Lohan. This lawsuit of hers is little more than an attempt to achieve relevance in the public eye again. What was the last movie she played in that sold well at the box office?

[Anonymous Coward]

Her last film?

Vapid. aka Vacuous II.

Also check out her autobiography "My Head Whistles In a Crosswind".

[Steven Roper]

Re: Her last film?

"Also check out her autobiography "My Head Whistles In a Crosswind"."

Fuck ya - you just made me snort coffee through my nose all over my keyboard.

Have a thumbs up for making me laugh so hard. I'm going to steal that line next time I need to insult someone's stupidity: "Heeelllloooo! Is your head whistling in a crosswind or something?!?"

Brilliant.

[Tex Arcana]

I didn't think Lohan had the brains to recognize herself...

...much less issue intelligible instructions to anyone except housekeeping, maybe...

[PassingStrange]

"No such thing as bad publicity"

I can't help wondering whether this has rather more to do with putting Lohan's name out in front of people than with the professed complaint.

[localzuk]

Which is a bigger brand? Lohan or GTA?

GTA generates billions of pounds of income, Lohan? Not so much...

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear Lindsay,

I'd like to apologise for the invective directed towards you from the commentards on this site. Not one of them has met with you yet they all feel qualified to pass judgment on your life.

I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive those commentators whose lives are so thankfully free from the misfortune that you find yourself in.

[Desidero]

Hmmm... seems The Reg pulled a brunette picture of Lohan rather than one of her many blonde layouts (her Marilyn cover, anyone?), and the readers are confused. Of course if they'd have read the article - a high hurdle, I admit - they'd have noted the game authors leaked her name and activities as a side mission - with the subtle disclaimer "-like".

Presumably if she loses, anyone can make a game based on anyone - "I just thought it was funny how Obama acted as president, so I made a trilogy of game action play around him"; "I was making fun of Chuck Norris, so I created a series of 30 satirical martial arts games with coinciding books, videos and microwave recipes"

Meanwhile I expect TheReg to fess up and admit the Lohan navigation mission isn't exactly fair use policy, but is instead a papparazzi-ladened view of Lohan when all spaced out - hardly a rare occurrence. By my calculations, you owe her roughly a Googleplex worth of Likes, and probably some compensation for likening her to Helium Head.

BTW - Lohan's a pretty good actress - knows how to hold an audience. As for her personal life, her business - not the first person to crash & burn.

[Anonymous Coward]

Film Career Lately

If you have had the misfortune to watch Labor Pains, one of her most recent ouvre, you will understand why she needs to sue a vastly more financially successful company with a spurious lawsuit over an image which has been proven to be based upon another person entirely.

Awful film which I was forced to watch as part of family time, never again

[2Fat2Bald]

And like so many others..

I don't think there is a strong enough case. True, the cartoon does look a *bit* like her. But then again there is nothing unique about her appearance - there are any number of blonde, female, pneumatic 20something celebs it could be. I'd say it was more representative of a "type" than anyone in particular. Okay, so they both got banned from hotels. But so do a lot of celebs.

I'm going to say it's not "supposed to be her", but she probably was an influence in the character design (along with other, similar, people).

[TeeCee]

"claims game has characters that are exactly like her"

Well they are all two-dimensional and have a shockingly small repertoire of predictable responses.......

[lambda_beta]

The question is?

The question is who gives a shit!

[Shane 4]

Huh?

Think she needs to see an optometrist, I am not seeing anything here.

If anything this is doing her a favour keeping her in the spotlight!

Because before this her name had no significance in GTA V for me, But now it does because of the lawsuit. lol

[Paul Hovnanian]

That's not Lindsay Lohan. She is getting to look more like her mug shots as time goes by.