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MacStupid: MacGyver and MacGruber Squabble Over Competing New Movies

By Bruce Carton

THR, Esq., The Hollywood Reporter's entertainment law blog, reports that a fight has broken out between the creator of the "MacGyver" television series and the producers of "MacGruber," a parody film set to hit theaters in April. Lee Zlotoff, who created the "MacGyver" series -- which ended in 1992 -- has apparently picked this moment (nearly two decades after the show went off the air) to exercise his rights to make a movie based on the show, and New Line Cinema is said to be developing a "MacGyver" movie. The "MacGruber" film, based on the "Saturday Night Live" segments featuring cast members Will Forte and Kristen Wiig, is set to be produced by Relativity Media and distributed by Universal. Zlotoff's lawyers say "MacGruber" infringes their client's rights, and that a copyright or trademark lawsuit might be necessary. THR's Matthew Belloni writes that the brewing case presents a potentially interesting twist on typical parody situations because the two movies are being developed simultaneously, and the parody will hit theaters before the original. This could impact the market for a film based on the original, Belloni notes. Alonzo Wickers, a First Amendment attorney with Davis Wright Tremaine in Los Angeles, is quoted...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on February 03, 2010 (boomark / email).