Godzilla producer snarls at rival in IP claim
The company behind the Godzilla film franchise has sued a rival film studio for what it describes as “blatant infringement” of its copyright and trademarks.
Film studio Toho filed a complaint yesterday (May 19) at the US District Court for the Central District of California against Voltage Pictures and director Nacho Vigalondo.
The case concerns alleged infringement of IP rights belonging to Toho in Voltage and Vigalondo’s promotion for the soon-to-be-released film “Colossal”.
Toho produced the Godzilla character and the first film featuring it in 1954. Two years later, the film was released in the US under the title “Godzilla: King of Monsters”.
There have since been 27 sequels featuring the character and Toho has also authorised the release of a US remake of the original film, which was released in 2014.
In 1981, Toho registered US trademarks for both word and image marks for the Godzilla character.
At the centre of the dispute is an email sent by Voltage to a list of investors asking them to back “Colossal”.
In the email, Voltage, the same studio that produced the 2013 film "Dallas Buyers Club", displayed three images: one of Godzilla, one of a robot, and another of actor Anne Hathaway in order to generate interest.
But Toho has said that the image of Godzilla was from the 2014 remake, which it owns the copyright to, and that use of the image is “blatant infringement”.
Furthermore, Toho has cited the description of the film as evidence of infringement as well as a statement from Vigalondo both of which explicitly refer to “Godzilla” when explaining the details of the film.
According to the complaint "Colossal" is set in Tokyo, which is under attack by Godzilla and a giant robot.
The email was sent on May 9, on the eve of the Cannes Film Festival. Toho has also claimed that Voltage advertised the film at the festival.
In the complaint, Toho said that the defendants “have knowingly used the Godzilla character” to attract interest and attention in their project so that it would stand out in a crowded field of competitors.
Toho has requested that a jury finds Voltage liable for both copyright and trademark infringement and that a permanent injunction is placed on “Colossal”.
Voltage had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing. Toho could not be reached for comment.
