Lindsay Lohan has escalated her complaint against Rockstar over allegedly improper use of her likeness in GTA 5. The Grand Theft Auto V advertising includes the bikini-clad girl allegedly modeled after the actress.
The new document includes dozens of pages of GTA V marketing materials and merchandise, which it claims were specifically modelled after several of Lohan’s appearances and do not constitute transformative fair use.
The examples single out two pieces of promotional art for the game; one shows a blonde woman in a bikini making a peace sign and another one shows a blonde woman being arrested against the hood of a car.
These images appeared in many of the GTA 5 game’s promotional campaigns and on merchandise from T-shirts to coffee mugs. Lohan’s suit argues that these alleged promotional and merchandising uses of her image are not protected by Rockstar and Take-Two’s First Amendment right to free speech or New York state law.
Rockstar and parent company Take-Two derided her claims as a bid for media attention and sought a dismissal in court filings reported in August. Take-Two said in the filings Lohan’s image was not used, and that the Lacey Jonas character resembles her only insofar as they are both young, blonde women.
