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
When Greta Gerwig’s Barbie was first announced, many fans expected Aqua’s popular song, “Barbie Girl,” to be featured. With the song’s upbeat tune and catchy lyrics, it seemed like a no-brainer for it to be included in the movie’s soundtrack. However, this excitement was squashed in 2022 when it was definitively revealed that the song wouldn’t be included in the movie or on the soundtrack.
The reason that “Barbie Girl” won’t be in Barbie is more than just a licensing or rights issue though. Some of it has to do with the fact that Barbie’s parent company Mattel sued the Aqua group for trademark infringement because of the song in 1997. Mattel was worried that the song would ruin the wholesome Barbie brand and one of their major complaints was that the music video “features the Ken doll dismembering the Barbie doll by pulling off her arm.
The reason that “Barbie Girl” won’t be in Barbie is more than just a licensing or rights issue though. Some of it has to do with the fact that Barbie’s parent company Mattel sued the Aqua group for trademark infringement because of the song in 1997. Mattel was worried that the song would ruin the wholesome Barbie brand and one of their major complaints was that the music video “features the Ken doll dismembering the Barbie doll by pulling off her arm.
- 7/22/2023
- by Brynnaarens
- Den of Geek
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
If you were alive in the late '90s, you've almost certainly heard Aqua's "Barbie Girl." At once a catchy earworm and a deeply silly novelty tune, it remains one of the more inexplicable songs to ever top the charts. Listeners almost certainly will have a different relationship to the song depending on how old they were when they heard it, but as a very young kid in the '90s, it was a song I heard — and loved -- mostly at sleepovers, where it was in heavy rotation. I most distinctly remember dancing to it at a cousin's birthday party, after we set up her new password journal but before we stuffed ourselves with brightly colored birthday cake ice cream.
That type of hot-pink-tinged memory is right in line with the magic of "Barbie Girl," a celebratory song that imagines a world where "life is plastic" and "it's fantastic.
That type of hot-pink-tinged memory is right in line with the magic of "Barbie Girl," a celebratory song that imagines a world where "life is plastic" and "it's fantastic.
- 9/27/2022
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
“It’s not the plane, it’s the pilot,” they say in the Tom Cruise-starring blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, and that’s kind of what Paramount thinks about a copyright lawsuit they’ve been slapped with over the fighter jet film.
“When the Court reviews the article and Maverick, as opposed to Plaintiffs’ irrelevant and misleading purported comparison of the works, it is clear as a matter of law that Maverick does not borrow any of the article’s protected expression,” says Paramount in a motion to dismiss response filed Friday in federal court in California.
“Plaintiffs do not have a monopoly over works about Top Gun.”
The dispute is between Paramount Pictures and the Israeli-based widow and son of the author of a 1983 article that inspired the original 1986 movie.
In a copyright suit filed earlier this summer in California federal court, Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay want unspecified...
“When the Court reviews the article and Maverick, as opposed to Plaintiffs’ irrelevant and misleading purported comparison of the works, it is clear as a matter of law that Maverick does not borrow any of the article’s protected expression,” says Paramount in a motion to dismiss response filed Friday in federal court in California.
“Plaintiffs do not have a monopoly over works about Top Gun.”
The dispute is between Paramount Pictures and the Israeli-based widow and son of the author of a 1983 article that inspired the original 1986 movie.
In a copyright suit filed earlier this summer in California federal court, Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay want unspecified...
- 8/27/2022
- by Dominic Patten and Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
The heirs of the author of a magazine article that served as the basis for Top Gun have sued Paramount Pictures, claiming the studio went ahead with the new sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, despite knowingly no longer owning the copyright.
As noted in the lawsuit (which was shared by Variety), the original 1986 Top Gun was based on Ehud Yonay’s 1983 story for California magazine, entitled “Top Guns.” Paramount secured the exclusive movie rights to the story after it was published, and Yonay received a “based on” credit as well.
In 2018, Yonay’s children,...
As noted in the lawsuit (which was shared by Variety), the original 1986 Top Gun was based on Ehud Yonay’s 1983 story for California magazine, entitled “Top Guns.” Paramount secured the exclusive movie rights to the story after it was published, and Yonay received a “based on” credit as well.
In 2018, Yonay’s children,...
- 6/7/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
“Good morning aviators,” Tom Cruise says in a line from blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick. “This is your captain speaking. Today’s exercise is dogfighting.”
Specifically, there is now a legal dogfight between the film’s box office high-flyer Paramount Pictures and the Israeli-based widow and son of the author of the 1983 article that inspired the original 1986 movie.
In a copyright suit filed Monday in California federal court, Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay want unspecified but clearly big-bucks damages from the studio and, with a very odd sense of timing, an injunction to stop screenings and distribution of the May 27-released sequel, as well as any more more movies in the franchise.
Calling Top Gun: Maverick “derivative,” the Marc Toberoff- and Alex Kozinski-represented Yonays allege that Paramount is “thumbing its nose at the statute” that allows the termination of rights after 35 years (read the court complaint here).
“These claims are without merit,...
Specifically, there is now a legal dogfight between the film’s box office high-flyer Paramount Pictures and the Israeli-based widow and son of the author of the 1983 article that inspired the original 1986 movie.
In a copyright suit filed Monday in California federal court, Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay want unspecified but clearly big-bucks damages from the studio and, with a very odd sense of timing, an injunction to stop screenings and distribution of the May 27-released sequel, as well as any more more movies in the franchise.
Calling Top Gun: Maverick “derivative,” the Marc Toberoff- and Alex Kozinski-represented Yonays allege that Paramount is “thumbing its nose at the statute” that allows the termination of rights after 35 years (read the court complaint here).
“These claims are without merit,...
- 6/6/2022
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Paramount Pictures has been drawn into a potentially massive legal battle over the rights to Top Gun. According to a lawsuit filed on Monday in California federal court, the studio knew it didn’t have the rights to the sequel but forged ahead with production and distribution anyway.
The complaint was filed by Shosh and Yuval Yonay, the heirs to the author of the 1983 California magazine story, Ehud Yonay, entitled “Top Guns” that the original movie was based on. They are taking advantage of a provision in copyright law that allows authors to reclaim the rights to their works after waiting a period of time, typically 35 years. The clause has quickly become a massive thorn in the side of studios that face the prospect of losing franchise rights to many iconic works from the 1980s.
The Yonays claim that the rights to the...
Paramount Pictures has been drawn into a potentially massive legal battle over the rights to Top Gun. According to a lawsuit filed on Monday in California federal court, the studio knew it didn’t have the rights to the sequel but forged ahead with production and distribution anyway.
The complaint was filed by Shosh and Yuval Yonay, the heirs to the author of the 1983 California magazine story, Ehud Yonay, entitled “Top Guns” that the original movie was based on. They are taking advantage of a provision in copyright law that allows authors to reclaim the rights to their works after waiting a period of time, typically 35 years. The clause has quickly become a massive thorn in the side of studios that face the prospect of losing franchise rights to many iconic works from the 1980s.
The Yonays claim that the rights to the...
- 6/6/2022
- by Winston Cho
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Come on Barbie, let’s go party!” is the immortal refrain from Aqua’s 1997 song “Barbie Girl” but when it comes to the upcoming Margot Robbie movie, Aqua haven’t been invited to join the fun.
Despite fans insisting that the Europop banger – which has clocked up over a billion views on YouTube – should appear in the soundtrack to the Mattel and Warner Bros. film, Variety understands there are no plans for that to happen.
If Barbie Girl by Aqua isn't in the end credits of the Barbie movie I want my money back
— TheTatermeister is obsessed w/Minecraft (@TheT8ermeister) April 27, 2022
If Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” doesn’t appear on the Barbie soundtrack… pic.twitter.com/HiVbibfH12
— art tavana (@arttavana) April 27, 2022
“The song will not be used in the movie,” Ulrich Møller-Jørgensen, who manages Aqua lead singer Lene Nystrøm, tells Variety.
Variety has reached out to Warner Bros. for comment.
Despite fans insisting that the Europop banger – which has clocked up over a billion views on YouTube – should appear in the soundtrack to the Mattel and Warner Bros. film, Variety understands there are no plans for that to happen.
If Barbie Girl by Aqua isn't in the end credits of the Barbie movie I want my money back
— TheTatermeister is obsessed w/Minecraft (@TheT8ermeister) April 27, 2022
If Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” doesn’t appear on the Barbie soundtrack… pic.twitter.com/HiVbibfH12
— art tavana (@arttavana) April 27, 2022
“The song will not be used in the movie,” Ulrich Møller-Jørgensen, who manages Aqua lead singer Lene Nystrøm, tells Variety.
Variety has reached out to Warner Bros. for comment.
- 4/29/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
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