Godfather Game Lawsuit [Jun 19, 2008, 11:19 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Mario Puzo may be sleeping with Luca Brasi and the fishes since 1999, but his
estate is not letting anyone horn in on his territory, as
this report indicates that Anthony Puzo has filed a lawsuit against
Paramount Pictures over revenue from the recent Godfather video game. The
author's son claims the estate is due at least $1 million from the game, based
on an agreement between his father and the movie studio in 1992 that was "to
give Puzo a significant share of the revenue of any audio-visual products sold
or rented with elements of the 'Godfather' movies." Paramount has not yet
commented on the lawsuit, though in an interesting related note,
EA has made it clear a sequel to the game is in the works.
So any existing products, or products in progress get pulled from shelves, any company that had rights, then loses them?
If the IP owner is dead or dissolved, all profits made from his IP thereafter go to the government to help pay for the agency that protects copyrights and handles such cases. Existing products based on that IP will continue to be sold until they sell out. No new products based on that IP can be made. Obviously this only really applies to entertainment IP, like videogames, movies, books, etc. Essential IP pertaining to technology, medicine and so forth would continue to be developed under government control.
End result: Reduced franchise milking.
Because what you are saying is Paramount shouldn't have to pay shares out to anyone just because Mario Puzo died.
Well, yes. Anthony Puzo doesn't own the IP nor did he create it. Royalties from the IP should have ceased when his father died. Was that part of the original contract? No, but it should have been.
Date
Subject
Author
Copyright © 1996-2021 Stephen Heaslip. All rights reserved.
All trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
Privacy Policy. Manage Cookie Settings.
News CGI copyright © 1999-2021 James "furn" Furness & Blue's News. All rights reserved.
Chatbear v1.5.0/blue++: Page generated 17 April 2021, 01:41.