Law360: O’Melveny Scores a Win for Warner Bros.

四月 19, 2016

In its April 19, 2016 edition, Law360 reported that the Ninth Circuit sided with O’Melveny client Warner Bros. in a suit filed by a producer who claimed the studio stole his script for its film, “Trouble with the Curve,” which stars Clint Eastwood.

The article, “9th Circ. Calls WB Safe in Eastwood Baseball Film IP Suit,” noted that the April 11, 2016 decision by the federal appellate court affirms a lower court ruling that the 2012 film did not infringe the copyrights in plaintiff Ryan Brooks’ screenplay, “Omaha.”

“This is a really important reaffirmation about free expression, the ability to make movies in particular genres involving basic ideas like a father and daughter restoring their relationship,” said O’Melveny partner Matt Kline, who represented Warner Bros. and “Curve” writer Randy Brown, among other defendants. “And I’m glad the court rejected a view that would have created little monopolies around certain story ideas.”