Lawrence Sullivan, the infamous self-proclaimed “Florida Joker,” has been on a relentless social media crusade against the popular video game series Grand Theft Auto (“GTA”) for creating a character using his likeness for their upcoming gameever since the trailor for it dropped in early December. Sullivan initially threatened Rockstar Games, the company which publishes GTA games, with a 10 million dollar lawsuit not only for using his likeness, but also for his “suffering and pain” and “defamation of character,” although he has recently backeddown from this warning and presented the company with an ultimatum. Using TikTok, Sullivan attempted to leverage the potential lawsuit to strike a deal where he would weasel his way into voicing the character, developing more of a storyline for him, and of course, acquiring a few million dollars in the process. Sullivan has also threatened to free a kid who previously hacked into GTA, presumably to fulfill his demands in the event Rockstar denies this deal. Rockstar’s nonresponsive attitude toward the whole situation seems indicative of their indifference to the potential lawsuit, which coincides with the general narrative on social media that the Florida Joker’s case has seemingly no merit.
The fact that Sullivan is a man whose entire identity is referential of a Heath Ledger’s notorious Joker character from The Dark Knight, yet he still believes he has ownership over the aesthetic appearance of such a character is quite ironic. The Joker from the movie is copyrighted IP of DC comics, and Sullivan’s imitation of the character through intense facial tattoos, splotchy hair dye, and an unsettling disposition was more likely than not without permission from DC comics—putting him in direct violation of their copyright. But how did the Florida Joker get his scars? Sullivan has not been shy about his rationale for emulating the Joker character, explaining that his hardships in life “made him feel a kinship to the Joker, character, particularly to Heath Ledger’s portrayal in The Dark Knight.” He’s specifically discussed his facial tattoos, which bear remarkable resemblance to the face makeup of the DC character, stating they hold personal significance “because he sees the Joker character as a ‘rose’ who overcame the tragedies in his life, similar to himself.” Unlike the Joker character, Sullivan’s hardships appear to be of his own doing, at least when it comes to his criminal record. His now viral, villainous mugshot was captured after he was arrested in 2017 for “allegedly pointing a gun at passing cars.” He was subsequently arrested again in 2018 for missing court-ordered psychiatric appointments.
Putting aside his probable copyright infringement on the original Joker character from the movie, Sullivan’s claim against Rockstar Games is unlikely to succeed based on precedent. In 2014, Rockstar Games was involved in a prior suit alleging the same claim, albeit from someone of significantly more notoriety than Sullivan—Lindsay Lohan. GTA had created a character named “Lacey Jones,” who was a famous actress and singer with blonde hair, wearing fairly basic outfits, would frequently flash the peace sign, and was “the voice of a generation” all of which Lohan tried to argue were directly copying her look. The New York State Supreme Court dismissed the suit in 2016 based on the fact that the character bore no resemblance to Lindsay Lohan, stating that Lacey Jones “merely depicted a generic ‘twenty something’ woman.” Even had Rockstar used her likeness, the court held she would not be owed compensation because “advertising laws do not apply to works of fiction in the same way.” However, the court did find that a CGI image could qualify as a “portrait” under copyright law, but the allegedly infringed reference for the portrait need be “reasonably identifiable” in order to prevail.
Sullivan has proclaimed that those who do not find similarities between himself and the heavily tattooed character with outlandish hair dye are “out [of their] goddamn nuggets.” The precedent from Lohan’s case against Rockstar seems damning for Sullivan though, considering Lohan has a substantially more famous and unique character about her than Sullivan. Sullivan’s distinguishing features are all derivative of a widely popular character from one of the most famous superhero movies of all time, so it seems that any “reasonably identifiable” characteristics or likeness he is seeking to protect would ultimate fail—especially considering DC’s copyright over the original Joker. GTA VI is set to release sometime next year, and only time will tell whether Sullivan can successfully scheme his was into a deal with Rockstar Games and avoid a likely futile litigation process.
Student Bio: Eleni is a second-year law at Suffolk University Law School. She is a staff member for the Journal of High Technology Law. Eleni received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy, classical studies, public law and political thought from DePaul University in 2022.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
