(The Hill) – Paramount Pictures was sued on Monday by the family of the author of an article that inspired the movie “Top Gun” over copyright infringement related to the film’s sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick.”
The complaint says Paramount did not acquire the rights to the 1983 article “Top Guns” by Ehud Yonay prior to releasing the second installment, Reuters reported.
Ehud’s widow and son, Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay, are now seeking damages and to prevent the distribution of the film as well as future sequels, the news service reported.
“The iconic 1986 film all started with Paramount securing exclusive motion picture rights to Ehud Yonay’s copyrighted story immediately after its publication,” the lawsuit says, according to ABC News.
“In fact, the author’s story was duly credited on the derivative 1986 film, which is widely known to have been based on the story,” it adds.
Paramount obtained the rights needed to exclusively produce the 1986 film based on Yonay’s writing.
But the complaint filed Monday accuses Paramount of “thumbing its nose” at federal copyright law after the company supposedly ignored how the copyright reverted to the Yonay family in January 2020.
Meanwhile, Paramount refuted the claims in a statement to Reuters on Monday.
“These claims are without merit, and we will defend ourselves vigorously,” the company said.
The Hill has reached out to Paramount for comment.
“Top Gun: Maverick” grossed more than $548 million globally in its first 10 days of release, making it the biggest blockbuster hit of the year, ABC added.