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Friday, 10 November 2006 |
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Reed Martin toiled for 10 years on his screenplay "Heart Copy" while teaching movie marketing at Columbia and New York universities. He was a regular at film festivals and traveled often to Los Angeles hoping to make the right contacts. Finally, a talent-agent friend agreed to help him.
A year later, Martin learned his movie was being made. Only he wasn't in on the deal.
He sued Focus Features and filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, claiming that "Broken Flowers" — which won the grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 — was based on his work.
"There's so many coincidences that are impossible," says Martin, 37, now a research associate at Harvard Business School.
Martin says he registered every version of his script with the U.S. Copyright Office and the Writer's Guild of America.
"I didn't realize that copyright registration doesn't protect you from being ripped off," he says. "It only gives you standing to sue."
Marder took Martin's case, one of "a 100 or so" brought each year to his firm, Manning and Marder.
"The other 99 we don't represent and no one represents them," Marder says. "Attorneys can't afford to finance them and studios will spend a lot of money, chilling people from bringing lawsuits."
Martin is set to be deposed next month, but he says no amount of relief would be enough.
"It's not like Jim Jarmusch stole my hobby," he says. "I have wrecked my life following this dream."
A representative for Jarmusch would not comment on the case.
Most cases never reach a jury's ears, says attorney Aaron Moss, who specializes in creative-rights law. "The vast, vast, vast majority of these cases tend to settle. There's never an admission of liability. It's settled quietly outside of court."
Usually with a confidentiality clause, Marder notes.
Marder says the Grosso decision and the additional protection it provides for writers will inspire a "fundamental change" in how studios operate, but Black isn't so optimistic.
"I don't really see any end to this," he says. "As long as people in this marketplace are pitching ideas and as long as studios and networks are hearing ideas, there are going to be instances where people feel ripped off."
Writers can protect themselves by coming up with "code names" for their projects and not revealing too many details, Black says. They should retain an agent or a lawyer and make their pitches with that person present. "That keeps people honest," he says.
But it doesn't always work.
Donald Hughes got an agent to represent his autobiographical tale, "Echoes from Clay County," which detailed how he helped his wrongly convicted brother break out of jail. Last month, Hughes sued Fox Broadcasting Co., claiming that after rejecting his manuscript, the company used the idea for its hit series "Prison Break." (Fox had no comment.)
Hughes, 63, says he and his brother have better things to do than file lawsuits: "We're just a couple of old country boys, but when you're right, you're right." By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer
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