Tupac Shakur film producers try to dismiss copyright suit
The producers of “All Eyez on Me”, a biopic about the late rapper Tupac Shakur, have attempted to kick a copyright suit brought by a journalist out of court.
Lions Gate Films and Morgan Creek Productions, along with two others, claimed that magazine writer Kevin Powell had failed to state a claim and have requested a dismissal, in a filing made on Monday, August 7.
Powell sued the creators of the biopic back in June this year, alleging that they had infringed his copyright in a series of original articles written by him.
The suit, filed at the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, described the articles as being written for Vibe Magazine between February 1994 and February 1996.
Tupac, one of the best-selling artists of all time, died in September 1996.
According to Powell, the articles were based on the “life and struggles” of Tupac, and although “some of the content in these articles was factual, some portions of the article were changed or embellished by plaintiff”.
But, according to the producers, Powell failed to “plead a fundamental prerequisite to sustain
a copyright infringement claim”, ie, receipt or refusal of registration for the works.
They added: “Here, plaintiff’s complaint merely offers the conclusory allegations that the asserted works were ‘copyrighted’ or ‘copyrightable’.”
The creators claimed that section 411(a) of the Copyright Act imposes a “precondition to filing a claim”.
Section 411(a) requires that a copyright must be registered before an infringement action may be brought in relation it, according to the producers.
“Thus, plaintiff’s bare-bones, conclusory assertions that the works were ‘copyrighted’ cannot satisfy the pleading requirements imposed by section 411, and no amendment can cure this fatal deficiency,” they said.
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