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From: Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv
Subject: Re: Ideas and copyright law
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2024 12:53:40 -0800
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On 11/24/2024 12:43 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> Two threads merge!
> 
> Arthur mentioned watching Sister Act. BTR1701 said ideas cannot be
> copyrighted.
> 
> Sister Act was subject to a copyright infringement lawsuit. From IMDb's
> helpfully uncited source,
> 
> 	On June 10, 1993, Donna Douglas and her partner Curt Wilson in
> 	Associated Artists Entertainment, Inc., filed a $200 million
> 	lawsuit against Disney, Whoopi Goldberg, Bette Midler, their
> 	production companies, and Creative Artists Agency, claiming that
> 	this movie was plagiarized from the book "A Nun in the Closet",
> 	owned by the partners. Douglas and Wilson claimed that they had
> 	developed a screenplay for the book in 1985, and submitted it to
> 	Disney, Goldberg, and Midler three times in 1987 and 1988. They
> 	also claimed that the movie contained more than 100 similarities
> 	and plagiarisms from the book and screenplay. In 1994, Douglas
> 	and Wilson declined a $1 million offer to settle the case. The
> 	judge found in favor of Walt Disney Pictures and the other
> 	defendants. Wilson stated at the time, "They would have had to
> 	copy our stuff verbatim for us to prevail."

Which would explain why Hollywood never does a faithful adaptation of a 
book.  :P

-- 
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky 
dirty old man.