Legal Leeches: Lawsuits a Plenty – Stephen King Sued for The Dark Tower; Warner Bros. Sued AGAIN for The Conjuring
Steve Barton
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Never mind vampires… it’s lawyers who are the real bloodsuckers! Two major stories are floating about pertaining to the horror genre, and we figured we’d wrap em up nice and neat for you right here!
First up, according to TMZ, the creator of The Rook comics claims Stephen King’s The Dark Tower protagonist, Roland Deschain, is based on his main character, Restin Dane. He says Deschain has striking similarities to Dane other than just their initials — both are “time-traveling, monster-fighting, quasi-immortal, romantic adventure heroes,” who dress like a cowboy despite not being from the Old West – and the towers in both books look the same.
According to the docs … the Restin Dane character was in more than 5 million comic magazines from 1977-1983 including his own and Eerie, and King admits he read those stories. The first book in King’s Dark Tower series was released in 1982.
The plaintiff, whom TMZ didn’t name, thinks it’s more than just a coincidence Roland is a lot like Restin, and he wants the King of Horror to fork over $500 million for ripping him off.
And finally, the powers-that-be behind the mega successful The Conjuring franchise are again facing legal woes. Deadline is reporting that Warner Bros. was sued yet again this week over rights to blockbuster horror The Conjuring and its sequels and spinoffs. The Demonologist author Gerald Brittle has once again gone after the studio as well director James Wan, screenwriters Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes, RatPac-Dune Productions, and others for copyright infringement and more.
“This pattern of ongoing infringement by Defendants in the instant matter has caused Brittle irreparable harm,” says the seven-claim jury-seeking and unspecified damages-seeking amended complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Virginia. While not naming an actual number, the author of the 1980 book about Ed and Lorraine’s investigations into the seemingly supernatural, which are the basis of The Conjuring tales, is looking to get his hands on whatever the nearly $900 million box office franchise has made.
“Brittle seeks disgorgement of all of Defendants’ profits derived from said infringement and an injunction to insure the pattern of infringement is stopped,” the 355-page filing paperwork that attorneys Bradley Marrs and Patrick Henry II put before the court for their client asserts. “Plaintiff contends that in the case of studio defendants New Line and Warner Brothers, the profits to be disgorged are not limited to box office profits or licenses fees generated for the Defendants’ from their infringing movies, but also include Defendants New Line and Warner Brothers’ profits which fall to the bottom line of their corporate parent, defendant Time Warner,” the filing adds, with remarks over WB’s now concluded legal move against Innovative Artists last year over illegally distributed screeners and more. “Therefore, the ‘profits’ to be disgorged also include any increased value in Time Warner’s stock that is attributable to Defendants infringing movies as well as any portion of the pending sale of Time Warner, inclusive of any premium paid over Time Warner’s stock price, for said acquisition of the company.”
Stay tuned.
Categorized:News
