Here's a case that could have serious repercussions for novelists everywhere:

The actress Scarlett Johansson is suing the author of a bestselling French novel which featured a fictional character that resembles her, in a legal action which could test the limits of creative expression.

The American star is challenging writer Grégoire Delacourt, and his publisher JC Lattes, after he described a character in his novel as being her “doppelgänger”, or exact double. The case – if it comes to court – could make legal and literary history.

Despite the author insisting that the comparison is meant as a compliment and tribute to Ms Johansson’s beauty, the actress, famed for her role in Lost In Translation, is demanding compensation and damages from the publisher for the “breach and fraudulent use of personal rights”.

If someone successfully manages to do this in America, Tao Lin and Bret Easton Ellis could be sued into nothingness.