Paramount studio files to dismiss ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ copyright lawsuit
Tom Cruise in 'Top Gun: Maverick'.
On Friday, producers of the Tom Cruise blockbuster movie 'Top Gun: Maverick' have filed to dismiss a copyright lawsuit against the film.
The production company was sued over the magazine article on which the first 'Top Gun'is based.
The lawsuit was filed in June by the writer Ehud Yonay's wife Shosh and son Yuval Yonay. The plaintiff argued that the studio made the sequel even without renewing the rights they obtained for the first film.
Now Paramount has stated that the new picture is a work of fiction and has not taken any ideas from the decades-old magazine article.
As per the People, the studio stated: ''Any similarity between these vastly different works derives from the fact that Top Gun is an actual naval training facility."
The studio's lawyers added."Plaintiffs do not have a monopoly over works about Top Gun."
In the lawsuit, the writer's family claimed that the sequel has a lot of similarities with the article. However, denying that, the studio wrote in the newmotion, “Elite fighter pilots loving to fly, and being dedicated to their craft and competitive, are facts described in the Article,”
“Plaintiffs do not have a monopoly over these (unremarkable) facts merely because Yonay once reported on them.”
The studio also argues that there are so common similarities between the article and the sequel, on whichone can prove theirclaim.
Copyright law allows authors to reclaim the rights of their works after 35 years. Variety reports that Yonay died in 2012, but his widow and son filed a notice in 2018terminating the studio’s copyright to the article.
As per the reports, Yonays also demanded a lump sum money as the damages including the profits, income and the attorneys' fees.
The next court hearing is scheduled on September 26.
(With inputs from agencies)
