Rockstar sued over character likeness to Miss Cleo in GTA: Vice City

Back in 2002, Rockstar released Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and 15 years later, they are being sued for one of the characters in the game. Much like Lindsay Lohan's more timely lawsuit over a claim that her likeness had been used for a character Grand Theft Auto 5 without her permission, the Vice City lawsuit claims that the likeness of an individual was used without permission.

The Vice City character in question is an in-game fortune teller/voodoo woman named Auntie Poulet, the real-life counterpart is the TV psychic, Miss Cleo.

The lawsuit against Rockstar over Auntie Poulet is coming from Psychic Readers Network, which holds the rights to Miss Cleo. Psychic Readers Network claims they have spent over $100 million creating and promoting Miss Cleo and that Rockstar has made over $500 million while exploiting their character's likeness.

There are a couple of things to know before making a snap judgment on the claim. Rockstar is still making money on the 15-year-old game through GTA packages and ports, and Rockstar did use the actress behind Miss Cleo, Youree Harris, to voice Auntie Poulet.

Like the Lohan case, Rockstar has claimed that the lawsuit from Psychic Readers Network is without merit and ridiculous in a statement obtained by TMZ, "These claims are entirely meritless and completely ridiculous. We will vigorously defend ourselves with regard to this matter."

In 2015, Psychic Readers Network stopped the Miss Cleo actress from having a series of advertisements for the General Mills cereal French Toast Crunch by claiming that it owned the character. Prior to that,  Psychic Readers Network was sued various times for deceptive advertising.