Rockstar has repeatedly been filed with suits, but the publisher has yet managed to remain on top. Here we take a look at the times when the GTA franchise a the other games from Rockstar that drew the ire of certain personalities.
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^ Wilbur, Brock. " Attorney Jack Thompson And His Personal Vendetta Against Video Games Archived 2017-09-05 at the Wayback Machine ". Inverse, 2016-04-07. ^ Albanesius, Chloe (October 1, 2009). "Jack Thompson Sues Facebook Over Video-Game Backlash".
But instead of laughing it off as a good-natured caricature, the melodramatic actress hired a team of lawyers to file a 67-page document, detailing her complaint. The lawsuit alleges that Lacey Jonas, a minor character from GTA 5, was modeled after Lohan's likeness and poked fun at her attention-seeking behavior.
On April 19, 2007, Thompson and Take-Two settled the suit, with Thompson agreeing not to seek any legal restriction on sales of Take-Two's games, threaten to sue the company, or accuse Take-Two of any wrongdoing based on the sale of any of its games.
Thompson then sent letters to acting U.S. Attorney General Peter Keisler and U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy and Arlen Specter demanding that Jordan be removed from his position for failing to prosecute Florida attorney Norm Kent, who Thompson claimed had "collaborated" with the Bar for 20 years to discipline him.
The suit, on behalf of surviving family members, claimed that "obsessively" playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City made violence "pleasurable and attractive," disconnected violence from consequences, and caused Posey to "act out, copycat, replicate and emulate the violence" when in July 2004 he shot and killed his father, stepmother, and stepsister and then buried them under a manure pile. According to Thompson, "Posey essentially practiced how to kill on this game. If it wasn't for Grand Theft Auto, three people might not now be dead."
He said that the Bar was engaged in a vendetta against him because of his religious beliefs, which he said conflicted with what he called the Bar's pro- gay, humanist, liberal agenda. He also said that the "wedding of all three functions of government into The Florida Bar, the 'official arm' of the Florida Supreme Court, is violative of the bedrock constitutional requirement of the separation powers and the ' checks and balances ' which the separation guarantees." Thompson accepted a $20,000 out-of-court settlement.
On March 20, 2008, the Florida Supreme Court imposed sanctions on Thompson, requiring that any of his future filings in the court be signed by a member of The Florida Bar other than himself.
Harris. On May 4, 2006, Thompson filed a motion asking Judge Federico Moreno to recuse himself from the case, as Judge Moreno was a member of The Florida Bar. Citing an "abundance of caution," Judge Moreno recused himself on May 9, 2006 and referred the case to Chief Judge William Zloch for further action.
In response, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the creators of gaming webcomic Penny Arcade and of the children's charity Child's Play, stepped in to make the $10,000 donation instead, writing in the memo field of their cheque, "For Jack Thompson, Because Jack Thompson Won't.".
In 2013, Bruce McMahon and Christopher Bengtson filed a lawsuit against GTA's publisher, Take-Two Interactive, because GTA Online wouldn't become available until two weeks after the game launched.
Last year, former Mob Wives star Karen Gravano filed a $40 million lawsuit against Take-Two and Rockstar, claiming that one of Grand Theft Auto V's characters stole her life story.
Back in 2008, when Grand Theft Auto IV was hot off the press, the Chicago Transit Authority decided to breach a $300,000 advertising agreement by pulling GTA 4's ads from its busses and bus stops.
Unfortunately for McMahon and Bengtson, the courts don't usually reward impatience. A few months after it was filed, the U.S. District Court in California granted Take-Two's motion to dismiss. Take-Two Vs. The City of Chicago.
The lawsuit alleges that Lacey Jonas, a minor character from GTA 5, was modeled after Lohan's likeness and poked fun at her attention-seeking behavior. In the game, Jonas is a former child star who considers herself to be the "voice of a generation.". Also, her personal life is a bit of a mess.
The lawsuit is still pending, but if a judge decides that Gravano's case has merit, Dick Wolf's career is in trouble. Jack Thompson Hates Video Games (including GTA) If you're a gamer who's never heard of Jack Thompson, I'm about to ruin your day. Sorry.
He also sent a letter to Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick 's attorney, addressed to Zelnick's mother, in which Thompson accused her son of "doing everything he possibly can to sell as many copies of GTA IV to teen boys in the United States".
Thompson and Sanders filed the lawsuit on behalf of the surviving family members of Posey's father. According to Thompson, "Posey essentially practiced how to kill on this game. If it wasn't for Grand Theft Auto, three people might not now be dead.".
And in many games he has been referenced and mocked, such as GTA IV and the XGen Studios game Stick RPG 2 where he is named "Attorney Tack Jompson ".
Claiming that delays had weakened his case, Jack Thompson asked Medina County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Collier to disqualify himself from presiding over the case because the judge had not ruled on Thompson’s request for two months . Lynch himself eventually rejected Thompson’s offer, withdrawing his insanity plea.
As Niko pulls out his gun, one of the lines that the lawyer can say is Jack Thompson's famous line: Guns don't kill people, video games do.
His basic argument is that violent video games have repeatedly been used by teenagers as “murder simulators” to rehearse violent plans.
On April 19, 2007, Thompson and Take-Two settled their suit, with Thompson agreeing not to restrict sales through any court worldwide of Take-Two's games, threaten to sue the company, or accuse Take-Two of any wrongdoing based on the sale of any of its games.
The text of PRN's filing claims that "Auntie Poulet’s similarities to Miss Cleo and her copyrighted attributes are of such a breadth and extraordinary nature that they can only be explained by copying – which is unsurprising given that [Rockstar] hired the actress who performed as Miss Cleo to provide voiceovers, using the same accent as Miss Cleo, for the infringing videogame.".
While there's no way of knowing in advance how any court case will turn out, we can -- with expert help -- make some educated guesses. For that, we turned to Brandon J. Huffman; his firm, Odin Law and Media, specializes in "video game, digital media, entertainment and internet businesses."