Tom Cruise starrer Top Gun: Maverick in hot waters over copyright violation

Top Gun’s maker Paramount Studios has recently been charged for copyright violation by the heirs of Israeli author Ehud Yonay whose article Top Guns was an inspiration behind Tom Cruise’ 1986 movie.

According to CNN, in a complaint filed in California federal court on Monday, it was mentioned that the movie distribution company failed “to reacquire the rights from the family after it was terminated under the US Copyright Act” before releasing the blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick last month.

The family in a lawsuit further claimed that in 2018, they informed the makers that their “rights to Ehud's article would be terminated two years later”. This means that the studio had lost the copyright in January 2020.

To note, BBC reported that the sequel has earned $548 million globally in its first 10 days of release.

Reportedly, the author’s widow and son Shosh and Yuval Yonay respectively sought for “unspecified damages, including profits from the sequel”.

Meanwhile, Paramount released a statement, saying, “These claims are without merit, and we will defend ourselves vigorously.”