Skip to content 
The family of the author of a 1983 magazine article which inspired the 80’s hit ‘Top Gun’ have failed in their attempts to invoke their copyright against the hit 2022 sequel.
Ehud Yonay published an article in the California Magazine in 193 entitled ‘Top Guns’. This article detailed the story of an F-14 pilot and his radio intercept officer and their life at the Navy’s elite Fighter Weapons School, known as “Top Gun”.
Less than a month later, Yonay had signed the movie rights over to Paramount Pictures who hit the ground running on a new blockbuster.
Yonay passed away in 2012, and the rights he held in this article and any contractual agreements were then passed to his surviving wife and son.
As movie buffs will know, 2022 saw the return of the franchise with Top Gun: Maverick hitting the big screen. This was a smash hit and earned Paramount an Oscar nomination.
Following the success of the move, the family of Yonay filed a claim for copyright infringement. They claimed that the copyright agreement previously signed had been terminated and was not reinstated to cover the new film. Therefore the new film was a derivative work to the original article and in breach of the copyright protection vested within it. The claim also highlighted the substantial similarities to the article, including characters, names and the plot.
This claim was defended by Paramount and considered by the Court in Los Angeles.
The Judge sided with Paramount ruling that the movie was not similar enough to the original article and those elements that do overlap are more fact than any element that would be protected by copyright.
The claim for copyright infringement was therefore dismissed.
If you would like to know more about copyright protection, please get in touch with the team today for a consultation.
