Damn. The Hollywood Reporter….uh, reports that author Peter Joseph Gallagher is suing for ten million dollars over copyright infringement of his 2006 novel The Little White Trip: A Night In the Pines. From the full complaint:
Like the Book, the Film tells the story of five friends (three males and two females) between the ages of 17 and 22 who take a take a trip to a remote cabin in the woods. The cabin’s previous inhabitants were murdered by the father of the family, who returns to terrorize the group of friends. Throughout, the friends are being filmed and manipulated by persons behind the scenes, inadvertently playing characters in a real-life horror show. The similarities between the two works are striking. Even the names of the lead characters are similar. In the Book, the lead female blonde and brunette characters are named Julie and Dura respectively, whereas in the Film they are named Jules and Dana. Similarly, the cabin in the Book is called the “Brinkley Cabin,” whereas it is the “Buckner Cabin” in the Film.
Hm. I’m no big city lawyer, but that does sound pretty similar, especially for such an original concept. Gallagher names Whedon, Goddard, and Lionsgate as defendants in the lawsuit. As the classic Wayans comedy taught us, mo’ money does, in fact, equal mo’ problems.
Meanwhile, somewhere Harlan Ellison just achieved a mysterious erection.
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