It’s a familiar story (and I don’t claim to have come up with it, so don’t tell me I stole it): Writer pitches a concept to Producer. Producer rejects (or ignores) the concept, and Writer and Producer each go their separate ways — until Producer later makes a movie or TV show that Writer believes is derived from his idea. Writer sues, claiming the circumstances under which he pitched the idea created an implied understanding that Writer is entitled to credit and compensation for the use of the idea. Producer, usually, claims she’s never even heard of Writer, which really hurts Writer’s feelings. Writer, sometimes, claims to be the victim of a broad-based media conspiracy to keep him and/or his demographic group(s) down, which makes Producer wonder why it seems like everyone always has it out for her.
Commonly referred to as “idea theft” claims, these are the lawsuits that seem to accompany the release of, well, any movie or television show that reaches a certain threshold of success. This year alone, we’ve seen lawsuits targeting the creators of Ugly Betty, Sons of Anarchy, Pros vs. Joes, and Death at a Funeral (the last of these plaintiffs evidently being totally undeterred by the fact that the movie she claims stole her ideas was, itself, a remake of a nearly identical 2007 British film of the same name, with which she apparently has no qualms). Even Hayden Christensen, best known for playing young Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels, has just claimed that the USA Network stole the television program Royal Pains from a pitch he made (no indication that young Vader has punitively applied the sinister force grip on any offending USA Network executives).
But before you become the umpteenth person to sue J.K. Rowling for stealing your ideas and turning them into the Harry Potter series, remember this one simple rule: any successful lawsuit starts with a good complaint. The language used to introduce the plaintiff’s legal theory is not just boilerplate — the particular words used can have major implications on the viability of the action. This is perhaps no more important than in cases alleging breach of implied contract.
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