‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Get Sued for Copyright Infringement

By: Will Wood

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Although ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ is still the sequel to the acclaimed ‘Top Gun’, released 36 years ago, the family of the late Israeli writer Ehud Yonay, who signed the story on which the original film is based, believes that the production company Paramount Pictures should have reacquired the copyright of the work ‘Top Guns’ before getting to work on the second part of the plot.

Therefore, Yonay’s widow and son have decided to sue the multinational in a Los Angeles court, as can be seen from the record of the relevant court documents. To substantiate their position in this litigation, Shosh and his son Yuval argue that U.S. copyright law imposes a time frame for the use and enjoyment of these exploitation rights: once this period is over, the process must be restarted.

Yonay’s family demands compensation from the distributor for damages, which is rumored to be very high although the specific amount has not really transcended. They also claim a part, without specifying, of the huge benefits that ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ has reaped at the box office since its premiere, in the United States, on May 27.

Shosh and Yuval Yunay’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff, told the BBC that Paramount Pictures was fully aware that it no longer had the rights to ‘Top Guns’ when it began pre-production work on the film. Specifically, the permit expired in 2020, according to the lawyer, and Yuval’s family duly informed the company of the need to reapply for the corresponding authorization.

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