In the wake of countless other lawsuits throughout the history of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, the Psychic Readers Network decided that what didn't work out for others will surely work out for them - I don't know, maybe they had a vision or something?
A solid 15 years after the initial release of the game, the Network is suing Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games over copyright infringement due to the character Auntie Poulet in GTA: Vice City being allegedly a copy of their own televised "mystic", Miss Cleo.
Now, the fact that the two characters share an actress raises a number of questions, and all of them point back at the Psychic Readers Network. The actress, Youree Dell Harris, passed away last year, the timing of which is curious. For 15 years, the Network does nothing, however less than a year after the passing of the actress, they decide to sue?
Another interesting twist is that their admittance that "Miss Cleo" was an acted fabrication, even though the content of the show suggested otherwise (presumably in order to have viewers pay).
Of course, it's almost guaranteed that the case will be tossed right out of court, just like the cases of Lindsay Lohan and Karen Gravano were dismissed several times before no further avenues of pursuit remained open.
Allegedly, the Psychic Readers Network has spent over $100 million on building up the Miss Cleo 'brand'. Since they claim the infringement of their copyright helped Rockstar earn north of $500 million through Vice City, they'll be wanting a piece of that pie, though so far they're seeking unspecified damages.
The fact that the Network waited for 15 years makes it even more likely that this case will be out on the street before the first hearing since IP laws state that these kinds of infringements can only be attacked within three years. That said, there are laws which state the three years to be relative to the IP holder realizing that there was an infringement. However, we think the Network would be hard pressed proving that they didn't learn about one of the most popular video games of the early 2000's, in which an actress associated with them had a part, only three years or less ago.
Take-Two has already made a statement on the matter entirely dismissing it as complete nonsense, much like they off-handedly dismissed (and rightfully so) the Lohan case back when that was a thing. They've never let these cases slide in the past, and they most certainly won't be starting now.
These claims are entirely meritless and completely ridiculous. We will vigorously defend ourselves with regard to this matter.
Based on how many times Lohan tried to get the case rolling, chances are the Psychic Readers Network will give this a few tries after the case gets thrown out for good, but its a fairly certain bet that they won't win. Odd, isn't it, that they don't foresee that?
