header banner
My City, Entertainment, Movies

Paramount sued over ‘Top Gun’ copyright claim

The widow and son of the man who wrote the 1983 article that inspired the original “Top Gun” are suing Paramount Pic...
By Associated Press

The widow and son of the man who wrote the 1983 article that inspired the original “Top Gun” are suing Paramount Pictures over its sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick.”


In a complaint filed in California federal court Monday, Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay claim that the rights to Ehud Yonay’s story reverted back to them on Jan. 24, 2020. The lawsuit contends that Paramount, which produced and distributed the sequel, did not reacquire those rights before releasing the film in May.


Related story

Movie critics gush over Tom Cruise's return in 'Top Gun' sequel


A spokesperson for Paramount Pictures said in a statement that the claims “are without merit, and we will defend ourselves vigorously.”


The lawsuit says that Paramount has been on notice since 2018 that the Yonays intended to recover the copyright under a provision that lets artists do so after 35 years. According to the suit, the Yonays sent a cease-and-desist letter in early May to which Paramount responded that the film had been sufficiently completed by Jan. 24, 2020, and was not derivative of Yonay’s article. The Yonays counter that the film is a derivative of the 1983 article and that “Top Gun: Maverick” didn’t wrap until May 2021, over a year after the rights expired.


Yonay’s original article about the Navy Fighter Weapons School training program and two pilots in the course, the hotshot “Yogi” and his friend “Possum,” was published in the May 1983 issue of California magazine. Soon after, Paramount Pictures acquired the exclusive motion picture rights. “Top Gun” was released in 1986 and went on to become the No. 1 film of the year.

Related Stories
My City

‘Mission: Impossible 7’ will hit Paramount+ even s...

My City

Box Office: 'Top Gun: Maverick' Debuts to Stratosp...

My City

Kelly McGillis reveals she wasn't asked to star in...

My City

Prince William, Kate join Tom Cruise for ‘Top Gun’...

WORLD

U.S. gun lobby slams anti-gun 'elites' after Flori...