2015's Creed filmmakers including Ryan Coogler and Sylvester Stallone are being sued for allegedly stealing another man's work. The studios have released statements on these accounts presented to them.
A writer from New Jersey, Jarrett Alexander, has taken it to court to sue the filmmakers of Creed, NJ reported. The lawsuit against Creed calls for stealing Alexander's work and not giving credit nor compensation. The complaint was filed on February 26, citing that Alexander wrote a screenplay in 2010 focusing on the legacy of Apollo Creed and he registered it in U.S. Copyright Office and Writers Guild of America in the same year.
AV Club wrote that Alexander and his friend claimed they tried to pitch the idea to the Rocky movies main actor, Sylvester Stallone. The script was titled Creed: Rocky Legacy which makes the word "legacy" a key element in the 2015 movie. Alexander said that "legacy" was crucial to the script he made which was also used to market Coogler's movie. Moreover, he said that the defendants might have seen the copyright materials and ideas since he's linked them into his website using Twitter.
To retaliate on this claims, MGM, Warner Bros and New Line released their statements. According to The Wrap, the studios said "The claims in this lawsuit are baseless and an ill-advised attempt to profit from the work of others. Creed is based on characters from the 'Rocky' films that are indisputably protected by our copyright. The incredibly talented director, writers and producers who revitalized these beloved characters and created the story for 'Creed' deserve full credit for their originality and hard work."
They concluded by saying that they'll defend the lawsuit and will hold Jarrett Alexander with consequences.
The film notably earned $165 million on its theatrical release. Alexander is looking for a jury trial and suing the companies for compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre-judgment interest and his attorney's fees and costs.
