Grand Theft Auto 5 is the game that just keeps on trucking, with it even coming in first in the monthly NPDs this past month nearly three years after its initial release for last-gen consoles. One of the more controversial stories with the game was not about the game’s violence or sexual content, but rather a lawsuit by Lindsay Lohan that has now been thrown out.
Soon after the release of Grand Theft Auto 5, Lohan spoke out saying that Rockstar used her likeness without her permission in the game, even if it wasn’t specifically stated to be her.
The character Lohan claimed to be based on her in the game is also the one that was at the center of the marketing campaign, the women in the red bikini seen above. However, the court did not even rule on if Rockstar did indeed use her likeness in the game, but rather threw the case out for another reason according to the Wall Street Journal.
Lohan’s argument was based on the New York’s right-of-publicity law, which “bars the use of a person’s portrait, picture or voice for advertising or trade purposes without written consent from the subject.”
While the original judge for the case wouldn’t dismiss it, the case was moved to an appellate judge, who threw out the case though because he ruled that a video game didn’t qualify as “advertising or trade.” The court also ruled that the images used for marketing were based on the character in-game, which Lohan claimed was based on herself, rather than the marketing being based directly on her.
