{"id":1527,"date":"2016-09-01T22:19:14","date_gmt":"2016-09-02T02:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/?p=1527"},"modified":"2023-07-25T12:00:09","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T16:00:09","slug":"grand-theft-auto-not-just-taking-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/2016\/09\/grand-theft-auto-not-just-taking-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Theft Auto: Not Just Taking Cars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Grand_Theft_Auto_logo_series.svg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Zoom, Swerve, Crash!<\/em> These are effectively the three steps of actress Lindsay Lohan\u2019s and former Mob Wives star Karen Gravno lawsuits against the widely popular action-adventure video game series Grand Theft Auto.<\/p>\n

Zoom<\/em> – Lohan filed suit under New York\u2019s right of publicity statute, arguing that Grand Theft Auto V\u2019s character \u201cLacey Jonas,\u201d who is continuously portrayed evading paparazzi throughout the game, misappropriated her likeness. Lohan based her allegation off of the presumption that the game made multiple references to her famous Mean Girl\u2019s character, the West Hollywood hotel where Lohan previously resided, and that the video game\u2019s publisher used a model to allude to Lohan\u2019s image and persona using a photograph taken of her in 2007. \u00a0With respect to Gravano\u2019s case against Grand Theft Auto V, the ex-Mob Wives star filed a $40 million complaint over the game\u2019s character \u201cAndrea Bottino.\u201d Gravano claimed that she had striking similarities with her her virtual avatar from using the same phrases, father\u2019s who were government informants, and ties to reality television<\/p>\n

Swerve<\/em> – Given New York state\u2019s strict publicity statute and Lohan\u2019s previous failed attempts to prevail in such suits, the judge rejected the defendant\u2019s motion to dismiss in March 2016. \u00a0The same judge who rendered the surprising continuation of Lohan\u2019s case also gave the \u201cgreen light\u201d for Gravano.<\/p>\n

Crash<\/em> \u2013 Despite these rather surprising early victories for Lohan and Gravano, both were short lived. On September 1, 2016, New York\u2019s appellate division delivered a steadfast and fatal blow to Lohan and Gravano\u2019s claims against the video game maker. According to the Hollywood Reporter<\/a>, the New York Appellate Court held that both \u201crespective causes of action under Civil Rights Law \u00a7 51 must fail because defendants did not use [plaintiffs\u2019] name, portrait, or picture.\u201d Specifically with respect to Lohan\u2019s claims, the court concluded that because the video game creator failed to either directly or indirectly refer to Lohan by name, actually use Lohan as a model for the avatar, or use a photograph of Lohan as a basis for the avatar, the \u201cimages are not of Lohan herself, but merely the avatar in the game that Lohan claims is a depiction of her.\u201d Therefore, the case was dismissed. The same rationale was used to strike down Gravano\u2019s arguments.<\/p>\n

To further add fuel to the already robust fire burning down Lohan and Gravno\u2019s cases, the panel of appellate judges concluded that both suits would ultimately fail even if the avatars\u2019 depictions were close enough to the respective actresses because \u201ca video game does not fall under the statutory definitions of advertising or trade, and that Grand Theft Auto\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loren Shokes is an Entertainment and Sports Highlight Contributor for the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law and a current third\u00a0year student at Harvard Law School (Class of 2017).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zoom, Swerve, Crash! These are effectively the three steps of actress Lindsay Lohan\u2019s and former Mob Wives star Karen Gravno lawsuits against the widely popular action-adventure video game series Grand Theft Auto. Zoom – Lohan filed suit under New York\u2019s right of publicity statute, arguing that Grand Theft Auto V\u2019s character \u201cLacey Jonas,\u201d who is 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