The Israeli family of a journalist whose article inspired the original 1986 Top Gun movie has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Paramount Pictures as its sequel smashes box office records.
Ehud Yonay’s widow, Shosh Yonay, and his son, Yuval Yonay, filed the suit on Monday in a federal court in California, according to Deadline, alleging that the studio did not reacquire the rights to the original 1983 article for California Magazine, called “Top Guns.”
Yonay, who died of brain cancer in Israel in 2012, is credited as the “story-by” author in the original blockbuster, which became the highest grossing movie of 1986.
In 2020, the Yonay family reclaimed the copyright to the story and now has the right to terminate its transfer after 35 years, a statute that Paramount is “thumbing its nose at,” the suit said.
“These claims are without merit, and we will defend ourselves vigorously,” a Paramount spokesperson said in response.
The suit is seeking unspecified damages from the studio as well as an injunction to block Paramount from distributing the movie or further sequels.
The Yonays claimed to have sent Paramount a cease-and-desist letter last month, to which the studio responded that the sequel was not derived from the 1983 article.
They said Paramount also argued that the sequel was “sufficiently completed” by the time the copyright came in effect in 2020. The Yonays in response said the sequel was completed in May 2021.
Top Gun: Maverick continues to bring in massive revenues for the studio, leading box office receipts for the second weekend in a row.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.