The flamboyant British singer Lady Miss Kier believes a video game has stolen her image, right down to the pink ponytailed hair, short skirt and knee-high boots and signature cry of "Ooh La La."
The artist, real name Kierin Kirby, filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court this week against the U.S. arm of video game publisher Sega Corp., alleging the 2000 game "Space Channel 5" used her likeness without her permission.
Kirby, who found international fame in the early 1990s as lead singer of the band Deee-Lite with the song "Groove Is in the Heart," claimed in the suit that the "Ulala" character in the game too closely resembles her.
According to the lawsuit, representatives of Sega offered Kirby 10,000 pounds, or about $16,000, to license her name, likeness and recordings for the game. She said she declined to grant such a license and claimed Sega appropriated her image anyway for the game"s main character.
Kirby also claimed the name "Ulala" is deceptively similar to the phrase "Ooh La La," which she uses in her recordings.
The suit asks for damages of at least $750,000.