Top Gun: Maverick Faces Legal Enemy Fire As New Copyright Lawsuit Surfaces
A new lawsuit filed in California is now the perfect excuse for some to brush up on their Top Gun history, as the family of the author behind the article that inspired the franchise is seeking reparations over alleged copyright infringement, as well as an injunction looking to stop current Top Gun: Maverick screenings.
The story goes as follows: In April 1983, a man named Ehud Yonay got his story Top Guns published in California Magazine, accompanied by a series of photographs taken by C.J. Heatley. Yonay must have felt he had something special on his hands, as he promptly registered the article in October of that same year, and it’s really hard not to imagine it that way since Paramount actually secured the motion picture rights and allied rights tied to the story in an agreement signed with Yunay on May 18, 1983.
8 Unresolved Mysteries & Plot Holes Left Hanging In Top Gun: Maverick
In short, what Yonay's heirs, Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay, argue in their lawsuit is that the rights to the article reverted back to the family in January 2020. According to the lawsuit, Paramount did not secure another licensing deal for Top Gun, and the Top Gun: Maverick sequel does qualify as a “prior derivative works exception” under copyright law because the film had not been completed prior to January 24, 2020. Court documents obtained by Deadline point to the Yonays legal team being spearheaded by attorney Marc Toberoff, who is famous for representing Marvel comic book heirs against Disney, as well as a former judge on the US 9th Court of Appeal Alex Kozinski.
The Yonays allege that Paramount's response to a previous cease and desist letter that was sent to the studio acted in denial of Top Gun: Maverick's derivative nature. According to
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