Paramount has emerged victorious in a legal dispute over the copyright of Top Gun.
The heirs of the author of the 1983 article that inspired the original film with Tom Cruise sued the studio, alleging that it had produced the sequel without renegotiating a new license. However, the U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson dismissed the case on April 5, noting that various elements of the film were substantially dissimilar from Ehud Yonay's article, and any overlapping similarities were not protected by copyright law.
The plaintiffs' lawyer, Marc Toberoff, stated that they plan to appeal the court's decision, expressing dissatisfaction with Paramount's response to their copyright claim. This ruling could potentially challenge the assumed practice that a studio must reacquire copyright rights to produce a sequel based on original material.
The lawsuit, brought by Shosh and Yuval Yonay, argued that the rights to the story reverted to them in 2020 after sending a termination notice to Paramount. The studio contended that it did not need to acquire a new license as the article is non-fiction and bears no resemblance to the action film.
The court's decision was mainly based on non-protectable factual similarities between the two works. Judge Anderson emphasized that certain elements, such as the general idea of fighter pilots training and undertaking missions, were not protected by copyright.
He rejected the plaintiffs' claims of similarity based on scenes such as fighter pilots landing on an aircraft carrier, getting shot down, and carousing in a bar, labeling them as "non-protectable" or "familiar stock scenes."
The request for compensation for breach of contract due to Paramount's refusal to credit Yonay in the film was also dismissed. The court ruled that Paramount was not obligated to credit Yonay as the sequel was produced independently of the rights transferred to the studio by the contract.
A spokesperson for Paramount expressed satisfaction with the court's recognition that the plaintiffs' claims lacked merit. The dismissal resolves a legal headache for Paramount and could impact a potential third film in the franchise, which has garnered significant box office success.
The sequel's global earnings totaled $1.5 billion, surpassing expectations.
The decision offers clarity on the copyright issue and provides a favorable outcome for Paramount, potentially paving the way for future projects within the Top Gun franchise.
This news is summarized and processed by the IP Topics artificial intelligence algorithm.
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