Top Gun was a major banner film in 1986. It catapulted Tom Cruise into the stratosphere of film stardom. Tony Scott became the go-to director for a lot of action films. The film would also make a star out of Maverick’s rival-turned-wingman, Val Kilmer. Also Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson became a huge powerhouse producing team in Hollywood. Paramount had an enormous hit on their hands, but this property didn’t actually become a franchise until 2022, when after careful planning and a treatment of love, they finally gave audiences the follow-up Top Gun: Maverick, which became a massive hit at the box office.
The story of Top Gun dates back to a magazine article from May 1983 from California Magazine. The article was titled Top Guns (which sounds like the title of an upcoming sequel in the franchise), and it was written by the late author Ehud Yonay. Yonay’s family,...
The story of Top Gun dates back to a magazine article from May 1983 from California Magazine. The article was titled Top Guns (which sounds like the title of an upcoming sequel in the franchise), and it was written by the late author Ehud Yonay. Yonay’s family,...
- 4/9/2024
- by EJ Tangonan
- JoBlo.com
A court has ruled that Paramount Studios didn’t infringe any copyright laws when it made Top Gun: Maverick.
For the past two years, Paramount Studios has been embroiled in a legal case over Top Gun: Maverick. In 2022, the family of late journalist Ehud Yonay filed a lawsuit against the studio, alleging that it had broken copyright laws when it made the highwire action sequel.
In 1983, Paramount bought the rights to Yonay’s article Top Guns, originally published in California magazine. That feature formed the basis for director Tony Scott’s Top Gun, which helped turn Tom Cruise into a superstar in 1986.
Decades later, Paramount finally embarked on a sequel, but didn’t re-acquire the rights to Yonay’s article. Yonay’s family, who owned the rights after the author passed away in 2012, filed their suit in May 2022 – a matter of weeks before Top Gun: Maverick appeared in cinemas.
California...
For the past two years, Paramount Studios has been embroiled in a legal case over Top Gun: Maverick. In 2022, the family of late journalist Ehud Yonay filed a lawsuit against the studio, alleging that it had broken copyright laws when it made the highwire action sequel.
In 1983, Paramount bought the rights to Yonay’s article Top Guns, originally published in California magazine. That feature formed the basis for director Tony Scott’s Top Gun, which helped turn Tom Cruise into a superstar in 1986.
Decades later, Paramount finally embarked on a sequel, but didn’t re-acquire the rights to Yonay’s article. Yonay’s family, who owned the rights after the author passed away in 2012, filed their suit in May 2022 – a matter of weeks before Top Gun: Maverick appeared in cinemas.
California...
- 4/9/2024
- by Ryan Lambie
- Film Stories
Paramount has prevailed in the lower courts in a copyright infringement case over Top Gun: Maverick.
In a decision handed down last Friday, April 5, a district judge dismissed the case, brought by the family of Ehud Yonay, a journalist whose 1983 story for California magazine, “Top Guns,” inspired the original 1986 film. At the time, Paramount secured the exclusive movie rights to the story and Yonay received a “based on” credit.
In 2018, six years after Yonay’s death, his family began trying to retrieve the copyright to the story. It reverted back...
In a decision handed down last Friday, April 5, a district judge dismissed the case, brought by the family of Ehud Yonay, a journalist whose 1983 story for California magazine, “Top Guns,” inspired the original 1986 film. At the time, Paramount secured the exclusive movie rights to the story and Yonay received a “based on” credit.
In 2018, six years after Yonay’s death, his family began trying to retrieve the copyright to the story. It reverted back...
- 4/8/2024
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Paramount has prevailed in a copyright lawsuit, brought by the heirs to the author of a 1983 magazine story that inspired the original Top Gun, accusing the studio of forging ahead with the blockbuster sequel without renegotiating a new license.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson, in an order dismissing the case on Friday, found that several elements from the film — including plot, theme, setting and dialogue — are “largely dissimilar” from Ehud Yonay’s article. And to the extent both works revolve around a fighter pilot training school, the court concluded that any overlapping factual similarities aren’t protected by copyright law.
In a statement, copyright termination heavyweight Marc Toberoff, representing the plaintiffs, said the court’s ruling dismissing the lawsuit on summary judgment will be appealed. He added, “Once Yonay’s widow and son exercised their rights under the Copyright Act to reclaim his exhilarating Story, Paramount hand-waved them away exclaiming ‘What copyright?...
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson, in an order dismissing the case on Friday, found that several elements from the film — including plot, theme, setting and dialogue — are “largely dissimilar” from Ehud Yonay’s article. And to the extent both works revolve around a fighter pilot training school, the court concluded that any overlapping factual similarities aren’t protected by copyright law.
In a statement, copyright termination heavyweight Marc Toberoff, representing the plaintiffs, said the court’s ruling dismissing the lawsuit on summary judgment will be appealed. He added, “Once Yonay’s widow and son exercised their rights under the Copyright Act to reclaim his exhilarating Story, Paramount hand-waved them away exclaiming ‘What copyright?...
- 4/8/2024
- by Winston Cho
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The nearly two-year old dogfight between Paramount and the family of the writer of the 1983 article that inspired the franchise is over, at least for now.
In an order released late on April 5, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson grounded the copyright infringement, breach of contract, and declaratory relief action by the Israeli-based widow and son of Ehud Yonay
“Defendant is entitled to summary judgment on plaintiffs Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay’s claims for breach of contract, declaratory relief, and copyright infringement,” he wrote in a the one-page judgment in favor of Paramount Pictures (read it here). “Plaintiffs shall take nothing and Defendant shall have its costs of suit.”
“Plaintiffs contend that the Article and Sequel are substantially similar because they have similar plots, sequences of events, pacing, themes, moods, dialogue, characters, and settings,” the judge said in a separate 14-page minutes in chambers...
In an order released late on April 5, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson grounded the copyright infringement, breach of contract, and declaratory relief action by the Israeli-based widow and son of Ehud Yonay
“Defendant is entitled to summary judgment on plaintiffs Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay’s claims for breach of contract, declaratory relief, and copyright infringement,” he wrote in a the one-page judgment in favor of Paramount Pictures (read it here). “Plaintiffs shall take nothing and Defendant shall have its costs of suit.”
“Plaintiffs contend that the Article and Sequel are substantially similar because they have similar plots, sequences of events, pacing, themes, moods, dialogue, characters, and settings,” the judge said in a separate 14-page minutes in chambers...
- 4/8/2024
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Activision Blizzard will not have to face a lawsuit from investors claiming the company lied to them by minimizing the impact of allegedly widespread sexual harassment and discrimination against female employees, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson on Monday concluded that Activision Blizzard didn’t make false statements to shareholders about the gravity of investigations by government agencies with the intent of misleading them. Dismissing the suit for the third time, he found that there’s no duty for disclosures to reveal “any and all material information” but rather only the information “necessary to make statements made not misleading.”
Activision Blizzard investors sued in 2021 alleging that the company downplayed allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination, especially at Blizzard Entertainment. They pointed to the board failing to highlight the urgency of the claims, despite investigations by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, Equal...
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson on Monday concluded that Activision Blizzard didn’t make false statements to shareholders about the gravity of investigations by government agencies with the intent of misleading them. Dismissing the suit for the third time, he found that there’s no duty for disclosures to reveal “any and all material information” but rather only the information “necessary to make statements made not misleading.”
Activision Blizzard investors sued in 2021 alleging that the company downplayed allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination, especially at Blizzard Entertainment. They pointed to the board failing to highlight the urgency of the claims, despite investigations by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, Equal...
- 1/24/2023
- by Winston Cho
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Paramount Pictures has failed to get the copyright lawsuit over Top Gun: Maverick dismissed.
On Wednesday, Nov. 9, a judge rejected the studio’s motion to dismiss the suit, saying it “contains sufficient well-pleaded facts” to support its claims of copyright infringement, breach of contract, and declaratory relief. Paramount will now have to file its answer to the suit no later than Nov. 28.
The lawsuit was brought by the family of Ehud Yonay, a journalist who wrote a 1983 article for California magazine called “Top Guns,” which served as the basis for the original 1986 movie.
On Wednesday, Nov. 9, a judge rejected the studio’s motion to dismiss the suit, saying it “contains sufficient well-pleaded facts” to support its claims of copyright infringement, breach of contract, and declaratory relief. Paramount will now have to file its answer to the suit no later than Nov. 28.
The lawsuit was brought by the family of Ehud Yonay, a journalist who wrote a 1983 article for California magazine called “Top Guns,” which served as the basis for the original 1986 movie.
- 11/11/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
A copyright lawsuit over “Top Gun: Maverick” will continue, after a judge on Thursday denied Paramount’s motion to throw out the case.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson held that there are enough similarities between the film and the 1983 magazine article upon which the original “Top Gun” was based to allow the author’s heirs to pursue the lawsuit.
The widow and son of author Ehud Yonay filed the case in June, arguing that the studio had never bothered to renew the rights to the article about the Navy Fighter Weapons School, which ran in California magazine. Paramount countered that it did not need the rights, because the sequel bore little resemblance to the article and because facts about the school are not subject to copyright protection.
“Plaintiffs do not have a monopoly over works about ‘Top Gun,'” Paramount’s lawyers argued.
But in his ruling on Thursday,...
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson held that there are enough similarities between the film and the 1983 magazine article upon which the original “Top Gun” was based to allow the author’s heirs to pursue the lawsuit.
The widow and son of author Ehud Yonay filed the case in June, arguing that the studio had never bothered to renew the rights to the article about the Navy Fighter Weapons School, which ran in California magazine. Paramount countered that it did not need the rights, because the sequel bore little resemblance to the article and because facts about the school are not subject to copyright protection.
“Plaintiffs do not have a monopoly over works about ‘Top Gun,'” Paramount’s lawyers argued.
But in his ruling on Thursday,...
- 11/11/2022
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
A judge has refused to dismiss a copyright lawsuit from the heirs to the author of a 1983 magazine story that the original Top Gun was based on that accused Paramount of illegally shutting them out of the sequel.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson found on Thursday that the suit pointed to enough similarities between the story and Top Gun: Maverick to survive dismissal. “Defendant’s primary argument in its Motion to Dismiss is that Plaintiffs have not sufficiently pled in their [complaint] that the Article and the Sequel are ‘substantially similar,'” reads the order. “The Court disagrees.”
Paramount acquired the film rights to Ehud Yonay’s California Magazine story in 1983 immediately following publication. In June, Paramount was sued by the heirs to Yonay. Shosh and Yuval Yonay argued that they reclaimed their rights to the article under a provision in copyright law...
A judge has refused to dismiss a copyright lawsuit from the heirs to the author of a 1983 magazine story that the original Top Gun was based on that accused Paramount of illegally shutting them out of the sequel.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson found on Thursday that the suit pointed to enough similarities between the story and Top Gun: Maverick to survive dismissal. “Defendant’s primary argument in its Motion to Dismiss is that Plaintiffs have not sufficiently pled in their [complaint] that the Article and the Sequel are ‘substantially similar,'” reads the order. “The Court disagrees.”
Paramount acquired the film rights to Ehud Yonay’s California Magazine story in 1983 immediately following publication. In June, Paramount was sued by the heirs to Yonay. Shosh and Yuval Yonay argued that they reclaimed their rights to the article under a provision in copyright law...
- 11/11/2022
- by Winston Cho
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Paramount has come up short in its effort to ground a Top Gun: Maverick copyright lawsuit.
“Defendant’s primary argument in its Motion to Dismiss is that Plaintiffs have not sufficiently pled in their Fac that the Article and the Sequel are ‘substantially similar,'” U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson wrote in a court order released Thursday. “The Court disagrees.”
“For all of the foregoing reasons, the Court denies the Motion to Dismiss,” the dense order (read it here) continued. “The Court concludes that the Fac contains sufficient well-pleaded facts to state viable claims for copyright infringement, breach of contract, and declaratory relief.”
Or, as Tom Cruise says in the highflying blockbuster: “Mach 10? Let’s give them Mach 10!”
“While the Court declined to dismiss the case at this very early stage in the proceedings, we will continue to vigorously defend this lawsuit and are confident that discovery will...
“Defendant’s primary argument in its Motion to Dismiss is that Plaintiffs have not sufficiently pled in their Fac that the Article and the Sequel are ‘substantially similar,'” U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson wrote in a court order released Thursday. “The Court disagrees.”
“For all of the foregoing reasons, the Court denies the Motion to Dismiss,” the dense order (read it here) continued. “The Court concludes that the Fac contains sufficient well-pleaded facts to state viable claims for copyright infringement, breach of contract, and declaratory relief.”
Or, as Tom Cruise says in the highflying blockbuster: “Mach 10? Let’s give them Mach 10!”
“While the Court declined to dismiss the case at this very early stage in the proceedings, we will continue to vigorously defend this lawsuit and are confident that discovery will...
- 11/11/2022
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
A copyright lawsuit claiming Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar winner “The Shape of Water” stole from the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Zindel has been dismissed (via The Hollywood Reporter). Both “Shape of Water” and Zindel’s play “Let Me Hear You Whisper” involve plots centered on a creature imprisoned in a science research facility. The lawsuit was originally filed by Zindel’s family in February 2018 just ahead of the Oscar voting deadline. “The Shape of Water” contended for 13 Academy Awards, winning Best Picture and Best Director, among other prizes.
A spokesperson for Searchlight Pictures said in a statement (via THR): “David Zindel, the son of Paul Zindel, author of ‘Let Me Hear You Whisper,’ acknowledges, based on confidential information obtained during the litigation process, that his claims of plagiarism are unfounded. He acknowledges Guillermo del Toro as the true creator of ‘The Shape of Water.’ Any similarity...
A spokesperson for Searchlight Pictures said in a statement (via THR): “David Zindel, the son of Paul Zindel, author of ‘Let Me Hear You Whisper,’ acknowledges, based on confidential information obtained during the litigation process, that his claims of plagiarism are unfounded. He acknowledges Guillermo del Toro as the true creator of ‘The Shape of Water.’ Any similarity...
- 4/5/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Vivian Lien has been promoted to VP Labor Relations at the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers – the trade association that represents the major studios in their contract negotiations with Hollywood’s labor unions. Lien joined the AMPTP in 2013 as counsel before being promoted to Senior Counsel in 2015.
“Through hard work, tremendous dedication and boundless enthusiasm, Vivian has developed a comprehensive understanding and expertise in entertainment collective bargaining that’s worthy of her promotion,” AMPTP president Carol Lombardini said. “Vivian’s meaningful contributions to industrywide labor negotiations is a great asset to the AMPTP and the member companies it represents, and she is without question a rising star.”
At the AMPTP, Lien has been involved in industrywide negotiations with unions representing entertainment employees throughout the U.S. and Canada. She serves on the Board of Trustees of two pension funds: the Pension Fund of Iatse Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists...
“Through hard work, tremendous dedication and boundless enthusiasm, Vivian has developed a comprehensive understanding and expertise in entertainment collective bargaining that’s worthy of her promotion,” AMPTP president Carol Lombardini said. “Vivian’s meaningful contributions to industrywide labor negotiations is a great asset to the AMPTP and the member companies it represents, and she is without question a rising star.”
At the AMPTP, Lien has been involved in industrywide negotiations with unions representing entertainment employees throughout the U.S. and Canada. She serves on the Board of Trustees of two pension funds: the Pension Fund of Iatse Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists...
- 11/6/2019
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that the “The Shape of Water,” the winner of this year’s Oscar for best picture, borrowed heavily from a 1969 play about a dolphin held captive in a military lab.
David Zindel, the son of playwright Paul Zindel, filed the suit in February, claiming that the film stole themes, plot points, characters and dialogue from “Let Me Hear You Whisper,” a play that aired on public television. Judge Percy Anderson ruled that the two works are substantially different, and that the similarities are too generic to be copyrighted.
“Although the play and the film share the basic premise of an employee at a scientific facility deciding to free a creature that is subjected to scientific experiments, that concept is too general to be protected,” Anderson wrote. “There are some minor similarities in the two works’ expressive choices, such as the fact that...
David Zindel, the son of playwright Paul Zindel, filed the suit in February, claiming that the film stole themes, plot points, characters and dialogue from “Let Me Hear You Whisper,” a play that aired on public television. Judge Percy Anderson ruled that the two works are substantially different, and that the similarities are too generic to be copyrighted.
“Although the play and the film share the basic premise of an employee at a scientific facility deciding to free a creature that is subjected to scientific experiments, that concept is too general to be protected,” Anderson wrote. “There are some minor similarities in the two works’ expressive choices, such as the fact that...
- 7/24/2018
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: A federal judge has dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit filed by the estate of playwright Paul Zindel accusing filmmaker Guillermo del Toro of appropriating plot elements from Let Me Hear You Whisper in his Oscar-winning film The Shape of Water. The suit was filed and fanned for maximum publicity on the day that Academy voters began filling out their final ballots for major category nominees, this after an ask for a settlement was rebuffed by Fox Searchlight. The film won four Oscars anyway, including Best Picture and Best Director for del Toro.
Judge Percy Anderson issued a brief ruling yesterday dismissing the suit and saying that del Toro and Fox Searchlight are entitled to recover the costs of defending against the legal claim.
The copyright infringement claim, filed in February in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleges del Toro “brazenly copies the story, elements, characters, and themes...
Judge Percy Anderson issued a brief ruling yesterday dismissing the suit and saying that del Toro and Fox Searchlight are entitled to recover the costs of defending against the legal claim.
The copyright infringement claim, filed in February in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleges del Toro “brazenly copies the story, elements, characters, and themes...
- 7/24/2018
- by Dawn C. Chmielewski
- Deadline Film + TV
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