Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Underworld in court......

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 09-13-2003, 01:03 PM:

Seems that there is a copyright infringment case going against this film. Read about it here.

underworld copyright issues

Atlanta, GA, - White Wolf, Inc. and Nancy A. Collins yesterday appeared in court yesterday with their attorneys in an effort to get legal relief from Sony Pictures', Screen Gems' and Lakeshore Entertainment's alleged copyright infringements in their upcoming film Underworld.

Judge J. Owen Forrester did not grant the requested temporary restraining order, citing a

handful of mitigating circumstances, most notably the plaintiff's inability to post a bond in excess of ten million dollars. Judge Forrester, however, did call for an expedited discovery period (lasting 30 days) and enabled the plaintiffs to have a preliminary injunction hearing thereafter. Judge Forrester also outlined his policy on fairness in his courtroom and cautioned Sony Pictures against using "big business" delay tactics.

If the injunction is granted, defendants risk their ability to proliferate the Underworld brand in video, licenses and merchandising. "I believe our attorney presented a strong case yesterday," said Mike Tinney, President of White Wolf. "The Judge had done his homework, asked a lot of smart questions, and commented that plaintiffs appeared to have made a valid argument for copyright infringement. For a small company like White Wolf and an individual plaintiff like Ms. Collins, this acknowledgement is very heartening."

[ 09-13-2003, 11:48 PM: Message edited by: Darryl Spicer ]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-13-2003, 04:35 PM:

Link is dead. Please always make sure to put the text of the news story being discussed on the thread and give credit to the website with a link (which will die sooner or later - in this case sooner).

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 09-13-2003, 04:41 PM:

I went to this website and read the story, but I didn't get what the lawsuit was about, does anyone know?

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 09-13-2003, 05:18 PM:

That link works fine for me.

There is, however, a better article about the subject on the same website.

linky-dinky-doo!

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White Wolf Sues Sony Pictures over "Underworld" Movie
Posted 2003-09-05 17:01:33 by damonwhite

Damon White Reports: White Wolf, Inc. and author Nancy A. Collins Sue Sony Pictures, Screen Gems And Lakeshore Entertainment for "Underworld" copyright infringement
(Atlanta, GA) 5 September 2003 -White Wolf, Inc. and Nancy A. Collins yesterday filed suit in US District court in Atlanta, Georgia against defendants Sony Pictures, Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment, alleging 17 counts of
copyright infringement for the film Underworld, set for release on September 19. White Wolf alleges that Underworld characters, theme and setting are based on White Wolf’s award winning games Vampire: The Masquerade® and Werewolf: The Apocalypse™, both set in White Wolf’s fictional World of Darkness®. Further, Collins alleges that Underworld’s script is based on her 1994 story Love of Monsters, published by White Wolf and also set in the World of Darkness.
Plaintiffs claim over 60 points of unique similarity between Underworld and their work. "Ours is a huge fictional world, supported by over 200 volumes of fictional material," asserts Mike Tinney, White Wolf’s President. "It’s infuriating to see Underworld’s script riddled with our property." Plaintiffs also claim that Underworld’s entire plot is based on Collins’ short story Love of Monsters. "Apparently they are marketing this as a remake of Romeo and Juliet," comments Collins. "What I think they really mean is that it’s an on-screen adaptation of my story."
White Wolf and Collins are seeking immediate injunctive relief and damages. "The volume of confusion in our marketplace is amazing," observes Tinney, "our fans think they’re going to be seeing our film. Of course, if the movie gets released, in a way they will be."
About White Wolf
Since its entry into the roleplaying game market in 1991, White Wolf Publishing, Inc. has grown, maintaining an average market share of 26%. With collective book sales in excess of 5.5 million copies during this time, White Wolf is one of two undisputed worldwide publishing leaders for pen and paper roleplaying games. White Wolf properties have been licensed to television series, comic books, action figures, professional wrestlers, a myriad of merchandising, replica props and weapons, interactive media events, coin operated arcade games and, of course, video games. More information on White Wolf can be found at www.white-wolf.com .
Nancy A. Collins is the author of several novels and numerous short stories, and is perhaps best known for her popular character Sonja Blue, a vampire/vampire-hunter who most recently appeared in the novel Darkest Heart and the collection Dead Roses for a Blue Lady. A recipient of the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award, The British Fantasy Society's Icarus Award, and the Deathrealm Award, as well as a nominee for the Eisner, World Fantasy, and International Horror Guild Awards, Collins’ works include Knuckles and Tales, Sunglasses After Dark and Avenue X.

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For archival purposes, here is the story linked to on the first post.

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Court Awards Expedited Injunction Hearing to WHITE WOLF and NANCY A. COLLINS
in "Underworld" Suit

Atlanta, GA, - White Wolf, Inc. and Nancy A. Collins yesterday appeared in court yesterday with their attorneys in an effort to get legal relief from Sony Pictures', Screen Gems' and Lakeshore Entertainment's alleged copyright infringements in their upcoming film Underworld.
Judge J. Owen Forrester did not grant the requested temporary restraining order, citing a
handful of mitigating circumstances, most notably the plaintiff's inability to post a bond in excess of ten million dollars. Judge Forrester, however, did call for an expedited discovery period (lasting 30 days) and enabled the plaintiffs to have a preliminary injunction hearing thereafter. Judge Forrester also outlined his policy on fairness in his courtroom and cautioned Sony Pictures against using "big business" delay tactics.
If the injunction is granted, defendants risk their ability to proliferate the Underworld brand in video, licenses and merchandising. "I believe our attorney presented a strong case yesterday," said Mike Tinney, President of White Wolf. "The Judge had done his homework, asked a lot of smart questions, and commented that plaintiffs appeared to have made a valid argument for copyright infringement. For a small company like White Wolf and an individual plaintiff like Ms. Collins, this acknowledgement is very heartening."

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 09-13-2003, 11:49 PM:

link works for me too and I just pasted the story the realized it was pasted in a later post.

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 09-14-2003, 01:11 PM:

The case may have merit, however it has little chance of succeeding. Inventing or creating the basis of a story that gets made into a movie is not owning the existence of the basis of the story. You can only own story treatments, worlds or universes (such as you can own the rights to the jedi world, etc.) and charachters.

The suit bringers alledge 60 infringements. It will be interesting to see how this goes.

Dave

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 09-27-2003, 06:44 PM:

I have actually read the campaign/story Role of Monsters and I have to say that Underworld the movie is very similar, in storyline. I can see where this suit is coming from. I found the movie great, also the campaign/story. [Smile]

Only problem I see is that vampire/werewolf "stories" are very similar no matter where you get them...other then the storyline, I can't see a way they could prove the movie had a copied script.

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 09-27-2003, 11:19 PM:

Exactly....these suits usually fail, although sometimes there is court bias in favor of big companies.

Proving similarities is not enough, because many common themes in stories go back to Greek & Roman myths as well as Shakespeare. They would have to prove that the writers of the film knew about their properties, read them and stole unique aspects of story elements and characters.

If the defendants can prove that their story is simply a vampire variant on Romeo & Juliet, the plaintiffs will have a hard time winning. If the studio thinks the plaintiffs can win, they'll settle out of court.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 09-28-2003, 11:28 AM:

This stuff with "Underworld" is pretty typical. I'm not surprised to see Sony Pictures named in this suit either.

My father strongly considered suing Sony Pictures over copyright infringement over things featured in the movie "Sniper." The movie lifted a lot of stuff from "Marine Sniper," a non-fiction biography of Marine Corps marksman legend Carlos Hathcock. After considering the options, cost, bridges that it would burn, etc., my father and his agent decided that it would not be a good idea pursuing the case. Since then, it seems like every movie with a sniper in it has some sniper-versus-sniper thing where a bad guy gets shot in the eye through his rifle scope.

Big companies like Sony can drag a lawsuit out over 20 years as the legal team plays the delay game of financial attrition. It doesn't matter who is right or wrong. The only thing that matters is who has the most money in their war chest for all the legal costs.

On top of that, my father was already tired of the court shit. He had already been through a drawn-out legal battle with the original publisher of "Marine Sniper," Stein and Day. It took him years to win back the rights to his book and get paid all the back royalties. The book publisher just played a game in not paying its writers. Most could not afford to sue. This is exactly the same game the music industry plays with its talent too. My father just happened to have a good friend that was a former federal attorney, who took the case for nothing (but with a percentage on the back end) to put Stein and Day out of business.