Copyright Law - Ninth Circuit: Plaintiff With Unreasonable Case Against Filmmakers Hammered On Attorneys Fees

Screenplays, Scenes-a-Faire Doctrine, Attorneys Fees

Gilbert v. New Line Productions, Inc., 2012 WL 2993803 (9^th Circuit July 23, 2012).  Attorneys awarded to defendant filmmakers for objectively unreasonable claims made by woman who wrote screenplays about a meddlesome mother-in-law.  No substantial similarity.  Plot lines and standard elements protected by the scenes-a-faire doctrine, which protects elements that flow naturally from standard plot lines.  Attorneys fees appropriate, but remanded for court to explain in detail what rate and time reasonable in a related action where the award did not specify these details.

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