US Edition‘Top Gun: Maverick’ copyright claim against Paramount rejected by US appeals court
The 9th Circuit rejected claims that Top Gun: Maverick copied the 1983 article, noting the film’s unique plot elements and its $1.5 billion global box office, court records show.
- On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena ruled that Top Gun: Maverick did not infringe Ehud Yonay's 1983 article and was not substantially similar.
- Ehud Yonay's heirs, Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay, said they terminated the license in 2020 and claimed 'Maverick' shared plot, character, dialogue, and themes with the original article.
- Comparing the article and film, the appeals panel found `such a high level of abstraction` meant the alleged similarities were not protectable, and 'Maverick' had significant plot differences, said Circuit Judge Eric Miller.
- The panel added that Paramount Pictures was not required to credit Ehud Yonay in 'Maverick' because his 1983 agreement did not cover the film, affirming an April 2024 district-court dismissal by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson .
- Paramount is defending a separate New York lawsuit by screenwriter Shaun Gray with jury selection on March 9, as 'Maverick' is Tom Cruise's highest-grossing film, raising stakes.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Federal Appeals Court Sides With Paramount in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Copyright Lawsuit
Paramount didn’t need a wingman to expand the “Top Gun” universe. A federal appeals court sided with Paramount in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by the family of a writer who inspired the 1986 “Top Gun” film. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California, ruled on Jan. 2 that Paramount’s 2022 Oscar-winning “Top Gun: Maverick” movie, which was a sequel to “Top Gun,” did not infringe on Ehud Yonay’s “Top Guns” 1983 magazine…
Mexico City.- A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that Tom Cruise Top Gun’s 2022 overproduction: Maverick did not violate a magazine article that inspired the original 1986 Top Gun film. The Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit of Pasadena, California, stated that Maverick, from Paramount Pictures, was not substantially similar to Top Guns, a 1983 Ehud Yonay article about the U.S. Navy’s Top Gun hunting pilot training school in San Diego. T…
Top Gun: Maverick Wins Appeals Court Battle Over Copyright Dispute
A federal appeals court ruled that Top Gun: Maverick did not infringe the magazine article that inspired the original Top Gun film. Despite claims from Ehud Yonay's heirs, the court found no substantial similarities with the article. Paramount was not required to credit Yonay in Maverick.
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