A member of the rap group Cypress Hill (if you don't know who they are...I officially feel OLD) has filed suit against gamemakers Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive Software claiming they based a character from the popular game Grand Theft Auto on his life and have never compensated him. Get the deets inside...



Michael "Shagg" Washington, who's a back-up performer with Cypress Hill, says his likeness and image have been stolen to create a popular gaming character and he's now demanding 25 percent of the game's profits.

Michael claims a friend introduced him to developers of Grand Theft Auto in 2003, and they asked him about street life. According to the complaint:

"The plaintiff, who had led a troubled life in his youth, responded to their questions and related details of his life. The plaintiff told them about details of his street life including how the teen-agers in his gang rode around on bicycles ... After almost two hours of questioning which covered many topics of gang and street life, the meeting ended and the plaintiff was allowed to leave," Washington says he "was told that if they chose to use him in the game, he would be notified."



But because Michael never played video games, it was only in July 2010 did he learn about "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," and its lead character, "CJ." Upon seeing the character, Michael said it was clear that Rockstar (the developer of Grand Theft Auto) had stolen his image and never paid him.

So now Michael says "as the lead character, profits attributable to the use of his image, and for the use of his story are twenty-five percent of profits earned," or $250 million, for fraud, misappropriation of likeness and copyright infringement. Ummm.....good luck with that. But maybe dude deserves a counsulting fee?

For their part, Take Two issued the following statement to news outlets: “The Company believes the lawsuit is completely without merit and will vigorously defend itself in the matter.” (via-theybf.com)Tweet