Redefining 'specious lawsuit' - but we can't say it's not worth a spin...

Ah, the lawsuit; the last resort of the failing popstar, the fringe celebrity - and now, it would seem, the insolvent ex-rapper. Former member of the infamous Cypress Hill Michael "Shagg" Washington is looking to benefit from the legal system's unfortunate decline from ‘fundamental enforcer of the common good’ to the ‘common-man’s primitive fighting tool’ by suing Rockstar games for what he claims is a “direct copy of my own visage and life story". Washington’s official lawsuit is against the company's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas protagonist Carl "C.J." Johnson, a character Washington feels was constructed around comments and information he had mentioned over the years about his life and background.

Now, to take on giants Rockstar games, a mere subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., whose revenue in 2009 was a staggering $968.5 million, one would assume that you have an air-tight claim accompanied by jaw-dropping evidence and fundamental proof that the games developer had actively attempted to copy you. Unfortunately, Washington appears to have missed this legal 411, filing a claim based on somewhat childish accusations such as "the teenagers in his (old) gang rode around on bicycles". As such, it would be a surprise if this even managed to get to a proper court appeal.

Either way, Washington remains adamant, seeking 25% percent of the game's profits in damages -  a request that would see him pocket a fair chunk of $250 million if successful... well, you can’t blame a man for trying, can you?

Actually, when I come to think about it, I wonder if any publishers based their characters on my life?... Nope, I give up - I can’t think of any character whose traits include tomato-red dungarees, a fascination with drainpipes and an underlying hate of fat lizards. Oh well...

Yahoo! Games

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