Top Gun: Maverick just came out, and it’s a hit. People are returning to theaters to see the high-flying action on the big screen. Those tickets mean money, and that money has attracted a lawsuit.
The original Top Gun was inspired by an article written by Ehud Yonay and published in California magazine in 1983. The article was, appropriately enough, titled “Top Guns.” Paramount optioned the article and Yonay received a “based on” credit in the original film.
But many years have passed between then and the new film. And during that time, those assigned rights in the article became eligible for termination. Section 203 of the Copyright Act gives authors and their heirs the rights to terminate assigned rights in their copyrighted works. For works published after 1977, authors may terminate assignments 35 years after they granted them.
That’s what Yonay’s heirs, his widow and child, say happened here. It’s been more than 35 years since the grant, and the lawsuit claims that they followed the proper steps to revert the rights back to them on January 24, 2020. They further claim that, since Top Gun was based on the article, Top Gun: Maverick constitutes an infringing derivative work of the article, which Paramount no longer holds the rights to. These termination would not affect Paramount’s right to keep distributing the original Top Gun, but the new movie could be an issue.
How the case will go depends on many specifics, including proper notice and how similar the article is to the new film. But it illustrates how many tools exist under copyright law. If you are an author or company dealing with assigning or reclaiming copyrights, The Law Firm of Dillon McCarthy is happy to help.