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Judge Dismisses 'Servant' Copyright Lawsuit Against Apple and M. Night Shyamalan

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A lawsuit that accused Apple and M. Night Shyamalan of copying 2013 film "The Truth About Emanuel" for the "Servant" Apple TV+ series has been dismissed, reports Variety.


A federal judge today threw out the copyright lawsuit, which had been levied against Apple and Shyamalan by director Francesca Gregorini, who claimed that "Servant" appropriated the plot of her movie and used the same "cinematic language," resulting in a "substantially similar feeling, mood, and theme."

Gregorini also claimed that Servant featured "strikingly similar-and highly idiosyncratic-characters, scenes, directorial choices, and modes of storytelling."


Released in 2013, "The Truth About Emanuel" told the story of a 17-year old babysitter looking after a doll that's a replacement for a baby that died, which is also a plot point used in "Servant." The judge ultimately decided that the TV show is not similar enough to the film to merit a lawsuit, and that Gregorini overstated the similarities between the two works.
"In sum, the alleged similarities between the works pale in comparison to the differences in the plot, themes, dialogue, mood, setting, pace, characters, and sequence of events, and the Court concludes that the works at issue are not substantially similar as a matter of law," reads the ruling.
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Shyamalan and "Servant" show creators have said that "Servant" was in development prior to the release of "The Truth About Emanuel." Gregorini was aiming for unspecified damages profits Apple made from the show, and an injunction to prevent "Servant" from being further distributed.

"Servant" wrapped up its first season earlier this year and has already been renewed for a second season.

Article Link: Judge Dismisses 'Servant' Copyright Lawsuit Against Apple and M. Night Shyamalan
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/05/28/judge-dismisses-servant-lawsuit-apple-tv-plus/
They really should just get rid of this particular type of copyright infringement regarding movies. It's virtually impossible to make a movie in this day and age that hasn't been done similarly several times in the past. I haven't seen an original storyline in decades. Done differently, of course, but still the same basic plot, etc.
 
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The sets, visuals, and lighting were so amazing in season 1, and the story was captivatingly told. I don't trust they'll explain what the hell is going on. It seems like they will just meander in character-driven empty stories that never tie together, like Lost. I'm not going to waste my time on season 2 until most or all of it is out and I have some reassurance M. Night will actually explain anything.
 
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MacGizmo said:
They really should just get rid of this particular type of copyright infringement regarding movies. It's virtually impossible to make a movie in this day and age that hasn't been done similarly several times in the past. I haven't seen an original storyline in decades. Done differently, of course, but still the same basic plot, etc.
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Inception stands out to me as being first of it’s kind
 
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Peepo said:
Shyamalan jumped the Shark at "The Sixth Sense" LOL.
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Odd that you'd say that, since that was his best film and the second to last of his that I liked.
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moabal said:
A better lawsuit against M Night Shyamalan would be ruining people’s favorite childhood cartoon ”Avatar the Last Airbender” in his crappy live action movie.
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That lawsuit has already been tried in the court of public opinion, and the judge gave him a probation. He's gone on to be a serial offender, showing that even the court of public opinion is ineffective in stopping recidivism. ;)
 
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MacGizmo said:
They really should just get rid of this particular type of copyright infringement regarding movies. It's virtually impossible to make a movie in this day and age that hasn't been done similarly several times in the past. I haven't seen an original storyline in decades. Done differently, of course, but still the same basic plot, etc.
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When I saw the trailer for “Coco” I kept telling everyone “I’ve already seen this movie!” Everyone looked at me like I was crazy, until I realized I was remembering “The Book of Life”. Literally scene for scene it is the same sometimes.
 
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It’s ridiculous that this culture of suing exists, just an attempt to see if they could get something out of Apple.

Have fun paying your legal bills!
 
Peepo said:
Shyamalan jumped the Shark at "The Sixth Sense" LOL.
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SIGNS came later and was a really great movie. THE VILLAGE also was a great movie, even if most people don't seem to get it. LADY IN THE WATER is very underrated and a beautiful film. I'm one of the few who even liked THE HAPPENING - but I'm a fan of the genre, and genre-fans use "slightly" different criteria to judge a movie than regular viewers. Heck, I even liked DEVIL, which was written by him.

Shyamalan is a very talented artist, and he certainly didn't "jump the stark at The Sixth Sense".
 
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Jakewilk said:
Inception stands out to me as being first of it’s kind
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Well, you can only say something like when you've only watched movies from the last two decades.

When you look past the orgy of extremely uninspired Hollywood action movie special effects, the film was a total failure. Its worst offense: It looked and felt like THE MATRIX, but was pretending to take place in people's dreams and their subconscious. The huge problem here is that no human being dreams like this. There was nothing surreal, weird, strange, chaotic, non-linear or even remotely metaphoric - or even artistic - in the entire film.

The very haunting 1971 movie "Johnny got his gun", just to give a random example, did a MUCH better job at exploring the inner workings of the human mind than Inception.

Even when you stick with Hollywood-style movies, THE CELL from 2000 was much better at exploring the "mind palace" of a very sick brain than Inception could even possibly imagine.

Check the RUSSIAN (!) movie STALKER from 1979 or the RUSSIAN (!) version of SOLARIS from 1972. Watch ANY Fritz Lang movie from the 1920s or 1930s, if you want to watch original cinema. Watch ANY Akira Kurosawa movie if you want to see really great cinematography and picture language. Watch Stanley Kubrick's and Sergio Leone's works. Once you've done all that, you cannot respect uninspired Hollywood trash like INCEPTION anymore.

What's really sad here is that Christopher Nolan has proven multiple times that he knows how to direct a great movie. I book Inception as an accident that I prefer to ignore.
 
Pismo said:
Michael Bay should be sued for this as well.
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You are totally right. With the Last Airbender movie not only was it not faithful to the original show, it was a bad movie in its own right. The Harry Potter movies were not exactly like the books but they were still good.

I can imagine a lot of people seeing the Last Airbender movie who were put off from it so much that they did not try to watch the original show. That is the real kicker.
 
ebika said:
The sets, visuals, and lighting were so amazing in season 1, and the story was captivatingly told. I don't trust they'll explain what the hell is going on. It seems like they will just meander in character-driven empty stories that never tie together, like Lost. I'm not going to waste my time on season 2 until most or all of it is out and I have some reassurance M. Night will actually explain anything.
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Was it just my TV or was almost every indoor scene so dark that you could barely make out what was going on? I mean, who lives in homes that dark (even in daylight)? Our TV is in a well-lit (sunlight) room making it even more difficult. I suppose in a dark theater it's appropriate but not in a normal home on a TV. Despite that, we really enjoyed the series and are looking forward to season 2.
 
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dmylrea said:
Was it just my TV or was almost every indoor scene so dark that you could barely make out what was going on? I mean, who lives in homes that dark (even in daylight)? Our TV is in a well-lit (sunlight) room making it even more difficult. I suppose in a dark theater it's appropriate but not in a normal home on a TV. Despite that, we really enjoyed the series and are looking forward to season 2.
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It was dark but I could still see everything well enough. Usually I’m ranting and raving that I can’t see anything when movies decide to go all atmospheric on us. You may want to fiddle with the settings on your tv. Ours has different controls that affect brightness so that it’s possible to boost some light into the dark scenes without blinding us during regular scenes. Hopefully you have that, too.

My house certainly isn’t that dark but my dad grew up in a row house like the one in the show and from what I remember, it was dark because you only have windows at the front and back and there’s a lot of interior spaces that remain shadowed.

My husband and I don’t know what to make of this show. It’s so weird. And seeing Rupert Grint using an American accent and doing sex scenes just adds to the surreal feeling. I’m glad he’s been able to get a gig like this and not be typecast as Ron Weasley forever.

I really haven’t watched TV in years so Apple has succeeded in pulling me back to it. I don’t watch a lot of movies, either. So I don’t really know a lot of these actors.

I looked everyone up and am surprised at how many British actors are in these Apple shows, especially Servant. Almost everyone in Servant is British. They do a fantastic job suppressing their accents. Rupert is the only one who sounds a bit odd. But he still sounds American.
 
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