shutterstock-111654521-web
Photo: andersphoto / Shutterstock.com
29 May 2014Copyright

Spike Lee faces Oldboy copyright suit

Film director Spike Lee is embroiled in a copyright dispute over the alleged misuse of designs in an advertising campaign for his latest film, Oldboy.

The dispute centres on the use of three designs by the artist Juan Luis Garcia, who  previously worked on  advertising campaigns for 12 Years a Slave and The Great Gatsby. The designs feature an image of a single arm holding a hammer, a person falling into a box, and a still shot of the star of the film, Josh Brolin, with a cut on his face.

Oldboy is a remake of the South Korean hit of the same name directed by Park Chan-wook, and was released in November 2013.

Garcia had designed and copyrighted the disputed images in January 2013 and sent them to the production company Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks, of which Lee is the principal owner. He said they could use the designs provided they entered into a licensing agreement with him.

But the designs were then used in a publicity campaign for the film, and featured on posters and online. Garcia objects to the “false and misleading designation of creation” and is seeking damages from the profits made in the promotion of the film.

Shortly after the release of the film last year, the artist sent an open letter to Lee asking him to intervene in the dispute and to compensate him for the designs. Garcia wrote: “We never signed any contracts or work-for-hire agreements and I certainly never agreed to donating or selling any copyright of my work without a licensing fee.”

At the time, in response to the letter on Twitter, Lee said: “Why should I pay someone who I never met nor had any contact with ever?”

Garcia has now filed the lawsuit (on May 27) and it will be heard at the US District Court for the Central District of California.

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk


More on this story

Copyright
21 October 2021   Two independent filmmakers have sued directors Spike Lee and Nate Parker, claiming that they “stole” the idea for the 2019 film “American Skin”.