GTA IV Radio Station Prompts Music Copyright Lawsuit

A Jamaican man who claims that he co-wrote a pair of reggae songs featured on one of Grand Theft Auto IV's radio stations filed suit over the issue against Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive in July.

The suit was dropped yesterday in federal court in Manhattan.

In his complaint, Linton White alleged that he co-wrote Last Night with David Brooks, aka Mavado. White also claims co-authorship of Bullet Proof Skin with Rodney Basil Price, who performs as Bounty Killer. Like the plaintiff, Brooks and Price are also from Jamaica.

Both songs named in the suit appear on the playlist of GTA IV's reggae-themed Massive B Sound System 96.9 station, which can be heard as players drive around the game's expansive setting in an assortment of virtual vehicles.

White is listed as a producer on Mavado's 2007 Gangsta for Life album, which contains the disputed Last Night track. According to the suit, White alleges that his co-authorship of the disputed songs was not added to the Liberty City Guidebook which was packaged with GTA IV:

In the... Liberty City Guidebook... [Take-Two and Rockstar] designate D. Brooks and B. Konders as the writers of "Last Night." ...[Take-Two and Rockstar] designate D. Brooks and R. Price as the writers of Bullet Proof Skin." No designation is made of plaintiff as a writer.

Neither Brooks, Price or Konders are named as defendants. In his complaint, White demanded $150,000 plus punitive damages and other fees. In court filings, attorneys for Rockstar and Two-Two argued that White's claims lacked merit. It is unknown what - if anything - White received.

For its part, Take-Two refused to comment on the matter. White's attorney, Anthony Motta of New York, declined to say whether or not there had been a settlement.