“I don’t have time to bleed,” explains Jesse Ventura in one of the many quotable lines Predator. However, the brothers who wrote the 1987 sci-fi action movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger certainly make the time to argue in court that Disney should fend off the rights to the franchise.
As you can imagine, the House of the Mouse has not, and they have moved on to their own Predator business suit.
“There is now a factual and justifiable controversy between the parties about the validity of Notice One and 20th Century’s and the respective rights of the defendants,” said Disney’s own lawsuit by Daniel Petrocelli and his fellow attorneys at O’Melveny & Myers. LLP (read it here).
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In other words, who is the hunter and who is being hunted here?
As Deadline reported exclusively in November 2020, the 20th Century Studios, now owned by Disney, will have a fifth of the Predator franchise is helped by 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg from a screenplay by Patrick Aison. Not so fast, say original writers James and John Thomas, represented by Marc Toberoff.
In 2016, the Thomas brothers duly exercised their right under Section 203 (a) of the Copyright Act to regain copyright in their literary material by submitting and rescinding a notice of termination within the prescribed legal timeframe. take it to the US Copyright Office. with an effective termination date of April 17, 2021, ”states an application (read here) for declaratory relief filed Thursday in federal court against Disney and several subsidiaries.
The brothers wrote a spec script called Hunters in 1984 that 20th Century bought Fox two years later and as Predator in 1987. Nearly $ 100 million at the box office, Predator spawned several more films.
And that’s all well with the Thomas brothers, it seems. What’s not okay with the siblings is that they want to take advantage of the copyright law provision that returns the rights to the author (s). After 35 years and some hoop jumping, Disney is said to have thrown a roadblock in their way.
“For four and a half (4½) years after the notice of termination was served, defendants did not object to it in any way,” continues the meager 12-page document calling for a jury trial. Then, in early January 2021, defendants ‘counsel unexpectedly contacted plaintiffs’ counsel and disputed the notice of termination as allegedly premature, based on a theory that the 1986 scenario grant underpinned their Predator films reportedly eligible for the special, deferred termination time window in 17 USC § 203 (a) (3), intended for book publishing grants. “
To lure the often elusive Disney into court, the siblings Thomas and their notoriously stubborn attorney want a district court to issue an injunction “ for the time being while pending this action and permanently thereafter, killing the defendants and all persons. acting in concert with them, by exploiting new derivative works based on the screenplay and the Predator derivative franchise after April 17, 2021, without first obtaining a new copyright license from the plaintiffs. “
In other words, Hey Mickey, give us back our stalking and bloodthirsty alien.
No, says Mickey, you dropped the alien ball.
“The defendants’ statements do not meet these legal requirements and are invalid by law,” said Disney’s own jury trial to file a complaint, also filed in federal court today. 20th Century seeks a statement under 28 USC § 2201 that defendants’ notice of termination is invalid. This action is necessary because defendants are falsely trying to protect the rights of the 20th century Hunters Scenario, when 20th Century invests substantial time, money and effort in developing a new installment in its successful Predator franchise. “
With the fact that steamer Willie and Mickey Mouse itself is still not in the public domain and probably won’t come when the last extension expires on January 1, 2024, Disney is playing hardball when it comes to copyright.
On the other hand, this is likely to be a rematch between Toberoff and Petrocelli. The two faced each other in the mess for years Superman heirs copyright suit that was eventually won by Petrocelli reputed Warner Bros in 2014.
In the meantime, while everyone gets into their corner for this, in addition to the ingenious premise, sequel and spin-offs, Predator holds a unique place in film history with two future American governors. We know that Jesse “the Body” Ventura became governor of Minnesota, while Schwarzenegger was the governor of California from 2003-2011, but what were (without going to Google) the other two movies they were in together?
As they say Predator, “Go to the helicopter!”