MovieBlacklist.com

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."

Details here: https://t.co/ELO8JGgQFC

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."

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/white-ripoff

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.

IMDB List: "Plagiarism, the new Low in Hollywood Movies."

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls054630755/

A Complete List of Bollywood (Indian) Movies copied from Hollywood | Plain Plagiarism

https://web.archive.org/web/20111225125033/https://pranshu.hubpages.com/hub/a-complete-list-of-bollywood-movies-copied-from-hollywood-plain-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

"The similarities between my book and Cuaron’s movie could no longer be dismissed as coincidence... We filed a Breach of Contract complaint that April."

https://www.tessgerritsen.com/blog/my-gravity-lawsuit-and-how-it-affects-every-writer-who-sells-to-hollywood

"You Wrote the Matrix, We Made it First" Tom Althouse Clip 238

Indiana Jones Copied Secret of the Incas! 🤠

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.

Woodall says the films share key elements, including themes of Polynesian spirituality, a protagonist embarking on a dangerous journey, and encounters with demigods adorned with hooks and tattoos. He also points to similarities in "Moana 2," such as the protagonist searching for an ancient island and undertaking a mission to break a curse."

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/disney-moana-lawsuit

'Above Then Beyond' v. Pixar's 'Up'

https://www.slashfilm.com/509656/did-the-french-short-film-above-then-beyond-inspire-pixars-up/

The Mistake I Made When Hollywood Stole My Screenplay - Shane Stanley

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

"Buchwald v. Paramount (1990) 1990 Cal. App. LEXIS 634, was a breach of contract lawsuit filed and decided in California in which humorist and writer Art Buchwald alleged that Paramount Pictures stole his script idea and turned it into the 1988 movie Coming to America. Buchwald won the lawsuit and was awarded damages, and then accepted a settlement from Paramount before any appeal took place.
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