NYTimes.com: When settling previous intellectual disputes, Woody Allen has been able to produce esteemed men of letters to come to his defense (at least when Marshall McLuhan is hiding just off camera). But there is not much chance that William Faulkner will be able to speak up for him in this latest disagreement: Faulkner Literary Rights, the company that controls works by that Nobel Prize-winning author of “The Sound and the Fury” and “As I Lay Dying,” has filed a lawsuit over Mr. Allen’s 2011 film “Midnight in Paris” and what it says is that movie’s unauthorized use of a line from Faulkner’s book “Requiem for a Nun.”
3 comments:
How did they even catch this over a year after the movie came out? This doesn't seem worth a lawsuit at all, it is just knit picking. There were just so many works of art and literary works and people that Allen used in this film, it is overwhelming. I understand copyrights are important and they are a secure form of protection but this is a little ridiculous. What is also important is that Faulkner is dead and probably doesn't care that Wilson added a few words to his writing. I feel like the movie is going to win on this one.
This is a "Frivolous lawsuit"!! Why does everyone just want to sue each other all the time. I mean come on really. It wasn't even the same line! I think that Faulkner would be happy that he has lived on and has been referenced in such a great movie! This lawsuit is ridiculous and people should spend their time doing better things with their time.
I remember watching this movie and catching the reference to this line.... and never did the thought of copyright infringement cross my mind. Absolutely ridiculous to think that some society (that is probably barely hanging on financially) would pursue a lawsuit against Sony Pictures over about 10 words that weren't even the author's exact words. What I find the most issue with here is that this society is acting as though it has the best interests of the dead author in mind. The author is dead, the material is almost 100 years old. AT 100 years old it reaches public domain. The organization has no right to assume what the dead author's wishes would have been. And, maybe I'm making too many assumptions, but I seriously doubt that Faulkner would have wanted to sue someone for quoting him.
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