Some interesting questions in here for the intellectual property attorneys in the crowd
https://variety.com/2026/film/news/michael-mann-new-regency-heat-screenplay-lawsuit-1236947532/
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@jalefkowit I didn’t realize US copyright law allows you to reclaim an assigned copyright after 35 years.
@jalefkowit Been thinking about this some more. IANAL, but I have a fascination with IP law, and I think that if he’s able to successfully argue that his agreement with the loaner company was an assignment of copyright, then the loaner company would not have had the authority to grant it to anyone else as a work-for-hire, and it’s the other party’s fault for not doing their due diligence in checking the provenance of the work.
But he’s also the loaner company, and the agreement was oral. So…
@jalefkowit He made an oral agreement with himself in 1988. That should stand up in court, I think. 🙃