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Joss Whedon, Lionsgate Hit With Copyright Lawsuit Over 'The Cabin in the Woods'
Posted on 4/15/15 at 3:04 pm
Posted on 4/15/15 at 3:04 pm
If you haven't seen the movies there are spoilers. You've been warned.
LINK
quote:
The Cabin in the The author of a 2006 novel has accused the 'Avengers' director and 'Cabin' director Drew Goddard of stealing his idea.
With just weeks until his box-office victory lap for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Joss Whedon is now facing a lawsuit accusing him of stealing the idea for the 2012 meta-horror movie The Cabin in the Woods.
Whedon produced and co-wrote the script forCabin with director Drew Goddard, a writer on Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a fanboy favorite in his own right, with credits that include Netflix's Daredevil (and reportedly may soon include Sony's upcoming Spider-Manprojects). Whedon and Goddard are named as defendants, along with Lionsgate and Whedon's Mutant Enemy production company, in the complaint filed Monday in California federal court.
In the complaint, Peter Gallagher (no, not thatPeter Gallagher) claims Whedon and Goddard took the idea for The Cabin in the Woods from his 2006 novel The Little White Trip: A Night In the Pines. He's suing for copyright infringement and wants $10 million in damages.
Gallagher is basing his claim on the works' similar premises: Both feature a group of young people terrorized by monsters while staying at a cabin in what is revealed to be (spoiler alert) a horror-film scenario designed by mysterious operators. Read the full complaint.
Gallagher also alleges similarities between the characters' names and personalities — his book's blond Julie and shy Dura and the film's Jules (Anna Hutchison) and Dana (Kristen Connolly), and handsome and scatterbrained men in both works — and certain scenes involving the characters finding strange items in their respective cabins and discovering hidden cameras.
In the complaint, Gallagher describes how he self-published the novel and “began grassroots efforts” to sell it on the Venice Beach boardwalk and on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade. "[The defendants] currently reside and operate out of Santa Monica, California, a short distance from where the Book was sold," the lawsuit claims.
Gallagher alleges that he "was contacted by multiple credited entertainment industry producers who expressed interest in the Book," but he doesn't specify Lionsgate or Mutant Enemy.
A Lionsgate spokesman declined to comment.The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to representatives for Whedon and Goddard.
LINK
7
Posted on 4/15/15 at 3:05 pm to Byron Bojangles III
Came here to post this. Crazy.
This post was edited on 4/15/15 at 3:06 pm
Posted on 4/15/15 at 3:08 pm to Byron Bojangles III
Smells like settlement
Posted on 4/15/15 at 3:10 pm to wildtigercat93
They better settle or ole boy is getting 10 million
Posted on 4/15/15 at 3:11 pm to Byron Bojangles III
Chump change to Whedon at this point.
Posted on 4/15/15 at 3:13 pm to Byron Bojangles III
Offer him a mil and be done with it
This post was edited on 4/15/15 at 3:14 pm
Posted on 4/15/15 at 3:15 pm to wildtigercat93
They probably already offered him a lot. Surely they didn't want this to go public. He may not want to settle.
Posted on 4/15/15 at 3:21 pm to Byron Bojangles III
Was the premise really that original though?
The concept of people being inside a show or a monitored facility with or without their knowledge has been done many times for various types of films. There have also been many horror parody flicks that had a similar character set b/c it was damn near essential to have a jock, a dweeb, a whore, and a virgin in an 80s slasher movie.
The concept of people being inside a show or a monitored facility with or without their knowledge has been done many times for various types of films. There have also been many horror parody flicks that had a similar character set b/c it was damn near essential to have a jock, a dweeb, a whore, and a virgin in an 80s slasher movie.
Posted on 4/15/15 at 3:23 pm to wildtigercat93
It certainly appears that he has a valid argument. The lawsuit version is of course catered to his side of the story though.
Posted on 4/15/15 at 3:25 pm to Dr RC
quote:
Posted by Dr RC Was the premise really that original though? The concept of people being inside a show or a monitored facility with or without their knowledge has been done many times for various types of films. There have also been many horror parody flicks that had a similar character set b/c it was damn near essential to have a jock, a dweeb, a whore, and a virgin in an 80s slasher movie.
Copyright infringement is very hard to prove.
He has to prove that they read his book and that they intentionally stole it.
Thought I read somewhere that Whedon and ol boy came up with idea years ago and it was in development hell for a while.
This post was edited on 4/15/15 at 4:16 pm
Posted on 4/15/15 at 3:29 pm to Byron Bojangles III
settlement
Posted on 4/15/15 at 3:34 pm to Carson123987
The Buffy Signal has been activated! Whedon defenders unite!
Posted on 4/15/15 at 4:05 pm to Byron Bojangles III
Get your money Pete!
Posted on 4/15/15 at 4:15 pm to wildtigercat93
quote:
Offer him a mil and be done with it
Offer him a thousand bucks and an autographed Blu Ray and be done with it. This case has literally no chance of winning. None. And considering he self-published, I doubt he has the war chest to litigate it either. He's trolling for a settlement, and there's not much incentive to give him one.
Posted on 4/15/15 at 4:38 pm to Baloo
quote:
Smells like settlement
quote:
They better settle or ole boy is getting 10 million
quote:
Offer him a mil and be done with it
quote:
He may not want to settle.
quote:
settlement
quote:
Get your money Pete!
No money need change hands.
My advice would be for Whedon to settle it with four words.
"Lunch with Scarlett Johansson."
Posted on 4/15/15 at 4:46 pm to Byron Bojangles III
Self published, suit is 3 years after the movie, and the characters are stereotypes. It has a bit of an odor.
Posted on 4/15/15 at 4:56 pm to Baloo
i think california has really strong injunctions for this very scenario. typically that's the heavy stick swung in these suits
dukes of hazard was probably the last notable example
dukes of hazard was probably the last notable example
Posted on 4/15/15 at 5:00 pm to gizmoflak
Posted on 4/15/15 at 6:27 pm to Baloo
quote:He's the plaintiff. He doesn't need any money to sue.
I doubt he has the war chest to litigate it either
But yeah, he's probably going to get bulldozed by industry attorneys, even if Whedon is guilty. This kind of thing happens all the time. His only hope is to connect the people he talked to to Whedon & co., and that's a tall order.
Used to be that you avoided getting your story idea stolen by publishing a book instead of floating a screenplay around town. I guess those days are over too.
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