Jim and John Thomas are hoping to get the rights to Predator back – but the case is going to court.
Now this is interesting. There’s been chatter over the past few months about a brand new Predator film from 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg. All of the Predator movies to date have come out via 20th Century Fox, that of course has been swallowed up by Disney as part of the megabucks merger of a year or two back.
Yet there might be a little twist in the tale here. The writers of the original movie, Jim and John Thomas, have filed a lawsuit against Disney arguing that the studio’s hold on the copyright to Predator expires in 2022, as part of a 35 year termination provision in US copyright law.
As per a piece at The Hollywood Reporter, Jim and John Thomas originally served a termination noticed in 2016 and received no objection. However, Disney is now battling the notice, and has filed a suit in return to ensure it keeps hold of the rights.
It’s looking to be a bit of a litmus test case this as well. To our knowledge, a major movie studio hasn’t yet gone to court to contest a 35 year termination provision, and if Disney is unsuccessful, then start looking at the movies from the late 80s and early 90s, because the copyright to those may just be about to revert.
We’ll keep you posted as we hear more. More details at the moment are at The Hollywood Reporter.
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