Judge Rejects Lawsuit Alleging 'Shape of Water' Ripped Off Pulitzer Prize Winner

[MrFredPFL]

Story : https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/judge-rejects-lawsuit-alleging-shape-w

Fox Searchlight and director Guillermo del Toro have scored a decisive knockout in the copyright lawsuit over the Oscar-winning film The Shape of Water. A California federal judge on Tuesday rejected claims made by the family of late Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Zindel.

The lawsuit, filed on the eve of the Academy Awards this year, alleged that Shape of Water was a rip-off of Zindel's 1969 play called Let Me Hear You Whisper.

"The Court concludes that although there are some minor similarities, the Film and the Book are not substantially similar to the Play," writes U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson in Tuesday's decision to grant dismissal without any opportunitity for an amended complaint.

In the decision, Anderson examines the plot, setting, themes, pacing, mood, dialogue and characters in the respective works. He filters out what's not protectable before analyzing the alleged similarities.

[troyharper]

Good for Guillermo del Toro then.

[MrFredPFL]

i keep meaning to watch this, altho i'll still have no clue about its similarity, or lack thereof, to the play in question.

[troyharper]

That's what I have in mind as well.