U.S. copyright laws allow writers to reclaim the rights to their original work 35 years after publication – or, in the case of movies, 35 years after the film they wrote was released. So Victor Miller, screenwriter of 1980’s Friday the 13th (watch it HERE) filed to claim the copyright to the film in 2016. Two years later, a judge ruled in favor of Miller and granted him the U.S. copyright to the first Friday the 13th. The film’s director and producer Sean S. Cunningham felt that Miller did not deserve the copyright, so he filed an appeal, saying that Miller had only written what Cunningham had hired him to write. Three years later, a judge has ruled in favor of Miller again. He just won the appeal.
Eriq Gardner of The Hollywood Reporter broke the news on Twitter and shared the ruling:
So the lawsuit is over. Again. For now? Gardner cautions that the Miller and Cunningham feud could continue: “Barring any reversal before a fuller panel at the 2nd Circuit or Supreme Court, Victor Miller will reclaim the domestic rights to the franchise.” If the fight isn’t taken to a fuller panel or to the Supreme Court, now would be the time for Miller and Cunningham to reach an agreement to work together on future Friday the 13th projects, as Cunningham will still hold the rights outside the U.S.
The ruling grants Miller the U.S. copyright to everything in the first Friday the 13th except the scene involving a motorcycle cop, since that was an addition to the script made by another screenwriter. The issue of whether or not Miller would be able to do anything with a version of the Jason Voorhees character that was not a little boy as seen in the first movie wasn’t decided in the initial lawsuit. The judge wrote,
I also decline to analyze the extent to which Miller can claim copyright in the monstrous ‘Jason’ figure present in sequels to the original film. (Cunningham’s company) Horror Inc. may very well be able to argue that the Jason character present in later films is distinct from the Jason character briefly present in the first film, and Horror or other participants may be able to stake a claim to have added sufficient independently copyrightable material to Jason in the sequels to hold independent copyright in the adult Jason character. That question is not properly before the court in this case, however.”
We’ll keep you updated on this issue and will let you know when it becomes clear how Miller and Cunningham are going to proceed.