Predator Writers Are Suing Over Franchise Copyright, But Disney Are Putting Up A Fight

The writers of the classic 1987 sci-fi action movie Predator are suing Disney over its rights. Jim and John Thomas claim that Disney's hold on the series is about to lapse, but the studio is unwilling to relinquish the rights.

US copyright law allows for authors to cancel the ownership of their work by previous rights holders and reclaim the copyright after a 35-year period. According The Hollywood Reporter, the Thomas brothers state that their original Predator script--titled Hunters--reverts back to them on April 17 this year.

In addition, Thomas brothers state that they served Disney notice that they planned to take back the rights in 2016, but heard nothing from the studio until January this year. The brothers have sued, with copyright lawyer Marc Toberoff representing.

Disney's 20th Century division have now countersued, arguing that Thomas's claim on the copyright have not met "statutory requirements" and that their attempts to regain it are "premature," given the studio is now developing more Predator projects. One of 20th Century's lawyers is Daniel Petrocelli, who previously battled Toberoff in court over the rights to Superman, in a case which stretched for an entire decade.

20th Century's complaint reads, "20th Century seeks a declaration pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201 that defendants' notices of termination are invalid. This action is necessary because defendants are improperly attempting to prematurely terminate 20th Century's rights to the Hunters Screenplay, at the very time that 20th Century is investing substantial time, money, and effort in developing another installment in its successful Predator franchise."

The 35-year copyright provision means that a variety of high-profile '80s properties could be affected. In 2017, it was reported that Stephen King had served notice to regain the movie rights to several of his books, including Dead Zone, Cujo, Children of the Corn, and Firestarter. In addition, Friday the 13th writer Victor Miller's attempts to claim the copyright on the hit slasher movie has led to a lengthy lawsuit with producer/director Sean S. Cunningham.

As for Predator, in November last year it was reported that 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg was developing a fifth movie. The most recent film was Shane Black's 2018 The Predator, which was a commercial disappointment.