Scarlett Johansson has won a lawsuit against an author whose book featured a character bearing a very similar likeness to the actress. She filed suit against author Gregoire Delacourt for making “fraudulent use of her name, fame and image” in his book titled La premiere chose qu’on regarde (The First Thing We Look At). The book features a character described as Scarlett Johansson’s ‘exact double.’ That character is treated like a sex object throughout the book.

Delacourt, however, claims he used Johansson’s likeness on the written page as a means of complimenting the Avengers actress.

“It was meant as the highest praise. She is an archetypal beauty of our times, very human with a touching fragility. She is a wonderful, iconic actress. I was hoping that she might send me flowers because this book is, in a way, a declaration of love. If I had known she was going to kick up such a racket, I would have picked another actress,” he said.

“I wrote a work of fiction. My character is not Scarlett Johansson,” the author said in an interview with a French newspaper. “I’m not sure she’s even read the book. It’s not been translated.”

And speaking of translated, Scarlett Johansson wanted to make sure the work is never translated into any other languages or adapted for film use, and she sought an injunction that would hopefully prevent any of these things from happening. The court threw it out, however.

Johansson will soon be back on the big screen in a film called Lucy, in which she plays a ‘merciless warrior.’ She decides to fight back against some people who have taken extreme advantage of her.

Gregoire Delacourt’s publisher claims that since the lawsuit is now settled the novel could in fact be published again–in English this time.

Scarlett Johansson only received 2,500 euros–the equivalent of 3,400 U.S. dollars in the suit. She sought the equivalent of $70,000. Do you think she deserved more respect from the French courts than this paltry award? Do you think the novel will eventually wind up published in English? That will no doubt open up a whole new lawsuit from which Johansson will hopefully get more money and stop the author who has unfairly portrayed her as a sex object.

Scarlett Johansson is sexy, but definitely no object in the upcoming Lucy. This may be one of her most enthralling roles to date.

Image via YouTube