American actress Scarlett Johansson launched a lawsuit on Wednesday against French author Grégoire Delacourt for allegedly appropriating her image in his novel, “La première chose qu’on regarde” (“The First Thing We Look At”).

Johansson – who recently moved to Paris where she lives with her fiancé Romain Dauriac – has sued Delacourt and his publisher, JC Lattès, for 50,000 euros ($70,000) over claims his book makes “fraudulent use of her name, fame and image”.

In his novel, the author describes the heroine, Janine Foucamprez, as the spitting image of Johansson.

“On September 15, 2010 Arthur Dreyfuss, wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and Smurf underpants is watching an episode of The Sopranos when his doorbell rings. It is Scarlett Johansson,” the book’s online summary reads. “He is twenty years old and works in a garage as a mechanic. She is twenty-six and needs something repaired.”

On top of damages, the actress is also seeking an injunction to prevent the novel from being translated or adapted for cinema.

Delacourt and JC Lattès, however, have dismissed Johansson’s suit as baseless, with their lawyer, Anne Veil, describing the allegations as “totally scandalous”.

“This is a literary approach, not a commercial one. She hasn’t been used as a product,” Veil said. “[Delacourt] is not a paparazzi, but a writer”.

Veil added that had her client known that Johansson was going to “kick up such a racket, he would have chosen someone else” as a muse for his novel.

The court is expected to rule on the case July 2.

France24