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Lohan, Mob Wives Right of Publicity Suits to Be Heard By NY Apps. Ct.

By Joel Stashenko
March 02, 2017

New York state's highest court has granted leave to appeal to actress Lindsay Lohan and former reality television star Karen Gravano in their suits over alleged misappropriations of their likenesses in the video game Grand Theft Auto V.

But the N.Y. Court of Appeals didn't explain further why it would hear appeals in the two cases, Lohan v. Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., 2017-74, and Gravano v. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., 2016-1016. It usually takes about a year for the court to hear oral arguments from the date it allows the appeal.

Both women's suits contend that defendants adopted characters that were unmistakably modeled on their likenesses in violation of their privacy rights under New York Civil Rights Law §51. Lohan has argued that a look-alike model appearing in the game is dressed in a bikini, has shoulder-length blonde hair, jewelry, cellphone and a peace-symbol pose that Lohan said all mimic the image that she has cultivated in her acting career. Gravano, daughter of former Gambino crime family underboss Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, argues that the Grand Theft Auto character Andrea Bottino is based on her image, as she appeared on the reality TV show Mob Wives in five of the six seasons the show aired between 2011 and 2016.

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