Take-Two Sued Again Over ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Game Series

Take-Two Interactive and its Rockstar Games development studio were sued yet again over their Grand Theft Auto videogame series. This time a rapper from the group Cypress Hill claimed the companies used his likeness in 2004’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas without his permission. Take-Two said the lawsuit is “completely without merit” and it will “vigorously defend itself."

Attorney Jeff Grotke filed the suit on behalf of singer Michael Washington in Los Angeles Superior Court Monday. Washington claimed in the suit that Rockstar developers interviewed him for nearly two hours in 2003, when he was a back-up singer and stage performer with Cypress Hill, and asked him questions about “street life.” The plaintiff claimed he was told that Rockstar would contact him if they wanted to use him in the coming game San Andreas, but they never did contact him. Washington said he never saw the game and was told by a nephew in July that “many people suspected” that the game’s main character, CJ, was modeled on the rapper. “It became clear that Rockstar had stolen his image and never paid him,” the plaintiff claimed. Washington said he contacted the game makers and demanded compensation, but they refused, denying they used his likeness and that they even met with him.

Washington accused the defendants of misappropriation of his likeness, as well as copyright infringement and fraud. The basis of the copyright claim was that the game companies created a game that was a “joint work” that “consists of creative ideas and input derived from the plaintiff,” the suit said. The plaintiff is seeking 25 percent of the more than $1 billion in profit that the game has made, or about $250 million, the suit said. Washington also requested an injunction to bar the distribution or sale of the game until he was compensated.

A class action suit was previously filed against Take-Two over the same game. That was over the controversial “Hot Coffee” modification to the title that left an unlockable sexually explicit mini-game in the title’s game code, despite being removed from the normal gameplay mode before its release. Suits were also filed against the company by separate plaintiffs who claimed that real-life shootings were inspired by actions in the violent Grand Theft Auto games. Take-Two settled the Hot Coffee dispute for $20 million last year. The other suits were dismissed.