A judge on Friday dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit that claimed Adam McKay stole his idea for the Netflix movie “Don’t Look Up.”
In legal documents obtained by TheWrap, U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Pace Garnett wrote that William Colyer’s claim that the star-studded 2021 disaster movie was inspired by his self-published novel “Stanley’s Comet” was “unreasonable” because it sought to copyright “unprotectable generic drugs and ideas.”
Garnett also wrote that the plaintiff simply made a “list of 15 random similarities” between his novel about a murderous comet and McKay’s movie, rather than claiming a “substantial similarity.”
The judge said the explorations of media, government, and society in both projects are “among the essential elements of modern American literature” that “cannot serve as a basis for copyright protection.”
He also raised Collier’s accusations that McKay borrowed a tone from black comedy, writing: “The comic, satirical, or parodic mood is too general to merit copyright protection.”
Garnett further cited a previous legal ruling that “copyright law protects only the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves,” and that courts “must be careful to inquire only” whether the protectable elements, standing alone, are substantially similar. “
However, Collier has 21 days to amend and refile the suit.
Also named in the lawsuit are Netflix and David Sirota, who received an Oscar nomination for the story on which the screenplay is based. The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence, was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Editing and Best Soundtrack.
The Hollywood Reporter was the first to report this news.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
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