While we're on the subject of James Cameron...
https://whatculture.com/film/7-movies-that-stole-their-plot-from-comic-books
MovieBlacklist.com
Script similarities and outright plagiarism in the movie industry.
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Wednesday, April 16, 2025
7 Movies That Stole Their Plot From Comic Books
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
'Somewhere In Time' v. 'Titanic'
Another case of 'appropriation' by Cameron?
See Chapter Two 'Titanic Connection' here:
Saturday, February 15, 2025
Screenwriter claims 'Broken Flowers' was his work, sues
"Martin then bumped into another cold reality about the film business. His case was hardly unique, or even all that unusual. When pressed, claims like his were usually squashed by high-powered studio lawyers -- or quietly settled and sealed by both parties...
After reviewing Martin's case, Marder says, he was stunned by how blatant the theft appeared to be. Marder says his firm considers 200 to 300 potential cases of copyright infringement a year and accepts only one or two. "This case has everything," he says by phone from Los Angeles. "The two legal legs are access and similarity. Typically, the stronger the access, the less you need to prove similarity. But in Reed's case, both were ramped up to the top."
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Screenwriter-claims-Broken-Flowers-was-his-2493649.php
Plagiarism Today
Interesting website which gives advice on how to stop plagiarism.
https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/
20 Famous Movies Accused Of Copyright Infringement
Part 1: https://www.tasteofcinema.com/2018/20-famous-movies-accused-of-copyright-infringement/
Part 2: https://www.tasteofcinema.com/2018/20-famous-movies-accused-of-copyright-infringement/2/
Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’ Accused of Plagiarism by ‘Luca’ Writer
Screenwriter Simon Stephenson (“Luca,” “Paddington 2”) has alleged that David Hemingson's script for Alexander Payne's "The Holdovers" plagiarizes "line-by-line" from Stephenson's own script, "Frisco."
17 Reasons 'Friends' Is No More Than A White Ripoff Of 'Living Single'
"I have literally NEVER seen a more blatant act of television plagiarism."
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
'How To Cheat In The Leaving Certificate' (1997)
v. 'The Perfect Score' (2004)
'How To Cheat In The Leaving Certificate' (1997) - Six students break into a testing centre and steal the answers to the Irish Leaving Certificate.
Budget: NO BUDGET
Full movie:
'The Perfect Score' (2004) - Six students break into a testing center and steal the answers to the S.A.T.
Budget: $40 MILLION HOLLYWOOD BUDGET as per IMDBPro
Trailer:
Sunday, February 9, 2025
The Great Hollywood Rip-Off
"A friend of mine once had a great job working for a major studio. She had a nice office and a large desk and windows that got the morning sun, and she had her name on the door in gold lettering with a title something like "assistant acquisitions manager." Her job was gathering high concepts, great lines of dialogue, and fresh, dramatic situations from scripts and treatments that were submitted to the studio. A world-class speed-reader, she would scan the scripts and treatments quickly, then pass the gold she'd mine from these scripts to any producer working for the studio who could use them. She was a hired thief, which did not square well with her self-image. Her conscience bothered her so badly that she wrote a scathing magazine piece about the practice, quit, and moved to Vermont to become a creative writing coach.
One way to protect yourself from getting ripped off is to turn your high concept into a damn good thriller as a novel before you pitch it to Hollywood for a film. That way, you are somewhat protected. Of course, they can still steal your high concept, because high concepts are just ideas and you cannot copyright an idea. My guess is, if you have a high concept that tickles producers' fancies, they will be busy two days later with their own screenwriters who they know can develop your high concept into a damn good thriller. What need do they have of you? Hollywood is a small town where it's who you know that counts."
Chapter from James N. Frey's book "How To Write A Damn Good Thriller" (2010), pp. 4 - 5, available here:
https://www.amazon.com/Write-Damn-Thriller-Step-Step/dp/0312575076/
'Flash Of Genius' (2008) and Patent Novelty
The same applies to copyright. It's not the individual words nor ideas themselves, but the arrangement of such words and ideas into a new and original work of art which makes it copyrightable. As a result and speaking legally, there only needs to be three distinct points of similarity between two works of art for the similarities to be considered statistically significant and therefore grounds for a case for plagiarism.
Malignant 2021: Rip Off or Original?
Hollywood
movie shows almost 50 plot similarities, some very specific, with
another 2014 screenplay. Many people in the industry have either had
elements from their screenplays plagiarised, or have had entire
screenplays ripped off. As litigation is a long and expensive process,
most do not avail of it and tend to settle out of court for a meagre
amount, thus keeping it behind closed doors and continuing the cycle...
GRAVITY lawsuit - Tess Gerritsen
Indiana Jones Copied Secret of the Incas! ðŸ¤
A video showing the many visual similarities between the two productions.
SAW and DEN plagiarism allegations
"After now having seen both movies, it’s clear where the films are connected. Certain scenes are so blatantly obvious, a blind man see it! It would be one thing for me to rattle off some facts but I had to inquire from Greg, in his own words, what are the major similarities between his film and SAW. Not only did he have an answer for that, but he made points that I completely missed."
http://www.unseenfilms.net/2014/01/den-2001_13.html
Plagiarism in Hollywood: More true than we realise.
I
can appreciate this silly kids' comedy because it shows what Hollywood
producers and many (but not all) movie producers can be really like. Plagiarism is rampant in the movie industry. Although no longer
stealing entire scripts for legal reasons - which has happened to people I know - if you're a good enough writer, they will steal your ideas,
characters, original jokes, lines of dialogue and even entire scenes to
the point where they will render your own work stale or obsolete. Always
be cautious when submitting your original work. Don't sign anything and
be sure to check other writers' experiences.
Disney sued for allegedly copying the idea for Moana and its sequel
"Woodall alleges that Disney used materials he shared in 2003 with Mandeville Films, which had a first-look deal with Disney at the time. He claims to have provided Mandeville with a screenplay, storyboards, and character designs for "Bucky," a story set in an ancient Polynesian village.
New domains
The following domains redirect here:
movieblacklist.com, filmblacklist.com, movieblacklist.net
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
The Terminator - Ellison Dispute
"Despite borrowing a couple of small elements from Soldier, if he did, it's clear that The Terminator stands on its own two feet as a story and as a classic movie."
https://www.jamescamerononline.com/Ellison.htm
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Coming To America
The decision was important mainly for the court's determination in the damages phase of the trial that Paramount used "unconscionable" means of determining how much to pay authors, which is widely called "Hollywood Accounting." Paramount claimed, and provided accounting evidence to support the claim, that despite the movie's $288 million in revenues, it had earned no net profit, according to the definition of "net profit" in Buchwald's contract, and hence Buchwald was owed nothing: a classic example of Hollywood accounting. The court agreed with Buchwald's argument that this was "unconscionable", and therefore invalid. Fearing a loss if it appealed, and the subsequent implications of the unconscionability decision across all its other contracts, Paramount settled for undisclosed terms. The case was the subject of a 1992 book, Fatal Subtraction: The Inside Story of Buchwald v. Paramount by Pierce O'Donnell, the lawyer who represented Buchwald, and Los Angeles Times reporter Dennis McDougal."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchwald_v._Paramount
Monday, May 5, 2014
Kevin James - "Paul Blart: Mall Cop"
ORIGINALLY: Mall Cop by Alfred Catalfo.
"Catalfo practices personal injury and criminal law in New Hampshire and has been writing screenplays since the early 1990s... the number of similarities between Catalfo’s “Mall Cop” and “Paul Blart” are remarkable, especially considering Catalfo says he submitted his work to Happy Madison."
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thelostboy/paul_blart_script_stealer
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090205-NEWS-902050410
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/mall-cop-same-title-same-plot-trouble-sony-1266