Friday The 13th: The Franchise

Victor Miller Wins Latest Horror Inc. Appeal In Friday The 13th Lawsuit!

2021-09-30T20:38:00.001-07:00

It’s been a great long while since we heard any news on the Friday The 13th lawsuit. It was thought that a decision of the 2nd Circuit court on the latest appeal of Horror Inc. and Sean Cunningham would have been made in Summer of 2020, but the pandemic and other circumstances delayed a ruling. Well, the wait is over now, and once again, Victor Miller has won in court!

You can read a proper break down of the decision of the court at The Hollywood Reporter, but the basics of the ruling is that Victor was not an employee and was indeed a work for hire. This means that the termination of copyright has been upheld and Victor now holds the rights to the intellectual property of the original film.

But wait, there’s more. Horror Inc. can still keep the franchise mired in legal proceedings, as mentioned by The Hollywood Reporter.

As for Cunningham’s company, it might seek a rehearing before a fuller panel at the 2nd Circuit. If that fails, there could be a petition to the Supreme Court, which might be intrigued by the novel overlap of intellectual property law and labor law.

In the end, it would behoove both Victor Miller and Sean Cunningham to start negotiating terms of how to distribute compensation for future films and merchandise so to end the legal proceedings once and for all and move forward to provide new projects for fans to enjoy. Who knows if Horror Inc. and Sean will enter another appeal, but at least this is one more step forward to an inevitable conclusion.

Friday The 13th Rights Arguments To Bring Early Summer Decision

2020-02-13T16:50:00.001-08:00

Today the 2nd Circuit Court heard oral arguments in the Friday The 13th franchise rights battle between Victor Miller and Horror Inc. Entertainment lawyer and franchise alumni Larry Zerner helped break down the proceedings and provided a large amount of analysis on his Twitter account.

The arguments provided by both sides have been covered numerous times the past few years. Horror Inc. is arguing that Victor was work for hire and that the lower court that ruled in Victor’s favor in 2018 did not factor in that the WGA (writer’s guild) agreement makes Victor a work for hire. Larry has stated in the past, and I have read on other legal sites, that this argument is very weak.

Victor’s lawyer argued that the lower court did take the WGA argument into account, but felt it had no weight. Finally, the lawyer for Horror Inc. pleaded to the Appellate 2nd Circuit court that if they were not going to rule in favor of Sean Cunningham, they should send it to district court for trial.

On Larry’s Twitter account, he offered up the three scenarios for what’s next:

1. The 2nd Circuit court rules that Victor owns the rights to the original Friday The 13th

2. The 2nd Circuit rules that Sean owns the rights.

3. The 2nd Circuit sends the case to District Court for trial.

The decision will be announced between May and June. I strongly suggest to check out Larry’s analysis on his Twitter account and meanwhile we all wait to find out the fate of the franchise in the next few months!

About the Rights Battle
Original Friday The 13th film writer Victor Miller filed a notice of termination of copyright on January 26, 2016 for the script he wrote for the film. The termination of copyright allows Victor monetary compensation for any future Friday The 13th films that are made using aspects of the script he wrote in 1979. This is made possible due to a provision in copyright law that allows the termination of copyright 35 years after the work is completed.

Horror Inc. (the Friday The 13th rights holder) filed a lawsuit against Victor Miller in 2016 to have his copyright termination claim thrown out. Since that time, the rights battle has taken place in the courts.

Read more about the Rights Battle.

Franchise Rights Arguments Set For Battle On The 13th

2020-01-27T19:28:00.001-08:00

Two months ago, entertainment lawyer and Friday The 13th alumn Larry Zerner mentioned that the next step in the court appeal by Horror Inc and Sean Cunningham would come this February. The oral arguments upcoming would bring the rights battle one very big step closer to its conclusion. Now we have a solid date for the arguments as Larry announced on Twitter today.

Mark Your Calendar! The 2nd Circuit has scheduled oral arguments in Horror Inc. v. Miller (the Friday the 13th case) for February 13 at 10:00 AM. Each side will have 12 minutes to argue.

I will provide analysis as soon as the Court posts the recording of the hearing
— Larry Zerner (@Zernerlaw) January 27, 2020

February 13th should bring some very interesting information for fans and hopefully give some insight to how close we are to finally seeing the end of the dispute between Victor Miller and Sean Cunningham. In just over two weeks, we will have more to tell our readers.

About the Rights Battle
Original Friday The 13th film writer Victor Miller filed a notice of termination of copyright on January 26, 2016 for the script he wrote for the film. The termination of copyright allows Victor monetary compensation for any future Friday The 13th films that are made using aspects of the script he wrote in 1979. This is made possible due to a provision in copyright law that allows the termination of copyright 35 years after the work is completed.

Horror Inc. (the Friday The 13th rights holder) filed a lawsuit against Victor Miller in 2016 to have his copyright termination claim thrown out. Since that time, the rights battle has taken place in the courts.

Read more about the Rights Battle.

Final Friday The 13th Rights Decision Inching Towards Conclusion

2019-11-23T09:58:00.001-08:00

This past September, the continuing rights saga between writer Victor Miller and Horror Inc. hit the legal proceedings’ next step, which was Victor Miller’s brief (rebuttal) to Horror Inc. and Sean Cunningham’s claim that he was an employee of Sean when he wrote the original Friday The 13th in 1979. Copyright lawyer Larry Zerner wrote on Twitter at the time:

The bulk of Victor's brief deals with this argument and pretty much calls it out for 1) being ridiculous, 2) having no legal support and 3) not being in line with U.S. Copyright law.

The rest of the brief covers the normal arguments over the factors taken into account when an author is an employee or an independent contractor under current U.S. law. It is fairly standard and tracks what was argued in the trial court.

I still think that Victor has the (much) better argument and, while nothing is certain when dealing with judges, I would say that I expect Victor to win his appeal.

Larry also went on to say that he expected the court to schedule oral arguments in January or February, with an expected final decision on this case in June 2020. Larry was indeed correct as he revealed yesterday that the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has proposed oral arguments for the week of February 10, 2020. If both parties present their oral arguments at that time, it is truly possible to have a final decision this coming June. We can all hope!

Rights Battle Kills Toony Terror Jason Voorhees Figure

2019-09-17T07:54:00.001-07:00

It was announced last Friday The 13th that NECA would be releasing an 8-bit Nintendo version of their Toony Terrors Jason Voorhees figure. The pre-order went up and a lot of fans purchased their figure. Now, it seems the Rights Battle has killed Jason, again!

Bloody Disgusting caught wind that the Jason figure (and Freddy as well) was being pulled from merchant sites, as well as NECA’s website and social media platforms. People who purchased the figure were sent emails apologizing for the discontinuation and money is being refunded.

The Franchise Rights Battle has claimed another victim for now, and we may not see anything licensed until late next year.

Friday The 13th Rights Battle Update With Victor Miller Rebuttal And Possible Verdict Dates

2019-09-05T05:28:00.003-07:00

As we mentioned back in July, the deadline for Victor Miller to file his rebuttal (brief) to Sean Cunningham's appeal for the Friday The 13th rights was yesterday and Entertainment and Copyright lawyer Larry Zerner had a nice update via Twitter yesterday about Victor's brief.

Victor Miller's brief in the #fridaythe13th appeal was filed late last night. There were no real surprises. For those of you who don't remember, Victor won at trial on summary judgment, the court ruling that when Victor wrote the F13 script, he did so as a work-for-hire.

Horror Inc. (Sean Cunningham's company) appealed the ruling. In order to win, Sean has to convince the Appellate Court that Victor was an employee when he wrote the script and not an independent contractor.

To that end, in his opening brief, Sean put forth the novel theory that because Victor's contract was under WGA jurisdiction, Victor must automatically be considered an employee because only employees can be covered under union contracts.

The bulk of Victor's brief deals with this argument and pretty much calls it out for 1) being ridiculous, 2) having no legal support and 3) not being in line with U.S. Copyright law.

The rest of the brief covers the normal arguments over the factors taken into account when an author is an employee or an independent contractor under current U.S. law. It is fairly standard and tracks what was argued in the trial court.

I still think that Victor has the (much) better argument and, while nothing is certain when dealing with judges, I would say that I expect Victor to win his appeal.

What happens next? Sean will file a reply brief by 9/28. The court will schedule oral arguments, probably in Jan or Feb 2020. We would then most likely have a decision in May or June 2020 (keep in mind that the court does what it wants and these are only educated guesses). 8/
— Larry Zerner (@Zernerlaw) September 4, 2019

Also posted yesterday was a really nice write-up by The Hollywood Reporter about the case whereas the article debates if Horror Inc. has a case with their stance that this ruling could destroy the unions in the entertainment industry? Read on for a brief piece of the article:

From The HollyWood Reporter
In the meantime, is the producer of Friday the 13th right? Is there about to be massive upheaval the other way — employees become independent contractors and entertainment guilds crumble — because of some copyright termination case in Connecticut?

On Tuesday, Miller's attorney Marc Toberoff took a shot at poking a hole in the producer's logic. His opening brief (read here) includes a trip down the Hollywood memory lane back to 1938 when the right of screenwriters to collectively bargain was recognized by the National Labor Relations Board.

Members of a labor union are free to work as an independent contractor, states the brief, and guilds such as the WGA, SAG-AFTRA and DGA negotiate the working condition of independent contractors, too.

If everything follows the way Larry Zerner has outlined, we will not see any kind of resolution until the middle of 2020.

Friday The 13th Rights Battle: Deadline Given For Opposition Against Horror Inc.

2019-07-10T05:30:00.001-07:00

We have a small update on the continuing legal battle for the rights for the Friday The 13th franchise. Yesterday, franchise alumni and copyright and entertainment attorney Larry Zerner posted on Twitter the next step in the court case. Victor Miller’s rebuttal to Sean Cunningham’s appeal is due within 90 days on 9/3/19.

Larry mentions the extended amount of time afforded to Victor to file his brief could signal possible negotiations to settle, but we shall see what happens next, if and when Victor files.

Short update on Horror Inc. v. Miller. Victor Miller's opposition brief filing due date is now 9/3/19. This is 90 days from the filing of Sean's brief which is a long(ish) time. Could possibly be because settlement talks continue but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
— Larry Zerner (@Zernerlaw) July 9, 2019

For more information on the case, please read our Rights Battle stories from the past couple of years.

NECA’s Friday The 13th License On Hold Due To Rights Battle

2019-06-27T05:53:00.001-07:00

We reported a few weeks ago that the appeal of Horror Inc. and Sean Cunningham was reinstated and the rights battle was headed back to court. This has once again created a large amount of uncertainty to not only the future of the Friday The 13th films, but to the availability of collectible merchandise for the franchise.

NECA has been on fire in recent years releasing numerous ultimate edition 7 inch Jason Voorhees figures from the films, along with retro “Mego” figures. Now that will all be put on hold because of the continued litigation of the rights for the original Friday The 13th film.

At a large fan event this past weekend, Randy Faulk, creative director for NECA, mentioned the license has been suspended for the foreseeable future because of the rights battle. Only in-development product will still be released. Those figures will include the Freddy vs Jason and Roy Burns figure from A New Beginning. One would also assume that the Mego dream sequence Pamela Voorhees figure from Part 3 will be released too, but that has not been officially confirmed.

To watch all announcements from the NECA fan event, please visit Toyark.

Negotiations Squashed. Full Appeal Reinstated As Friday The 13th Rights Battle Goes Back To Court

2019-06-05T17:53:00.001-07:00

The rights battle continues on and now the courts will hopefully settle this longstanding and painful issue for one final time.

Original Friday The 13th film writer Victor Miller filed a notice of termination of copyright on January 26, 2016 for the script he wrote for Friday The 13th 1980. This is made possible due to a provision in copyright law that allows the termination of copyright 35 years after the work is completed. Furthermore, the termination must be filed two years prior to reclaiming the copyright. Since Miller filed for termination in January 2016 (and later updated the filing in July 2016), he was in line to reclaim the copyright for his work in July 2018.

Horror Inc. (the Friday The 13th rights holder) filed a lawsuit against Victor Miller in 2016 to have his copyright termination claim thrown out. The lawsuit against Victor was dismissed in 2018, giving him sole rights to characters and other elements in the original film. Horror Inc. and Sean Cunningham then filed an appeal in October 2018 to reverse the courts decision to throw out their appeal. Since that time, the rights battle has taken place in the courts with mediation attempts made to resolve the issue and possibly come to a settlement. That mediation unfortunately went no where and now it is all going back to court!

Yesterday, Horror Inc vowed to the Second Circuit Court that this ruling could potentially upend how movies are made and set a bad precedent for the film industry going forward. The appeal leans heavily on the mention, once again, that Victor Miller was a work for hire employee and that the trial judge that dismissed the the lawsuit last year conveniently ignored the fact that Victor was a member of the WGA (Writers Guild Association) and that as a member he has protective employee rights against the studios. Horror Inc emphasized "employee" many times in the briefs brought forth yesterday in court.

Check out www.law360.com for more information on the case that was reported today. With a lot of eyes on this court battle, this may be drawn out for a long time to come.

Update In Friday The 13th Rights Battle: New Mandatory Phone Mediation Scheduled

2019-05-15T05:30:00.001-07:00

The ongoing saga of the rights battle for the Friday The 13th franchise has experienced many interesting turns after Horror Inc filed in October 2018 to block writer Victor Miller from gaining the rights to the original Friday The 13th film. Since that time, the original appeal to the courts findings was withdrawn, with some speculation that a settlement might be forthcoming. Towards the end of March, entertainment and copyright lawyer Larry Zerner made it known that an April 12th deadline was in affect for Sean and Horror Inc. to file to reinstate their appeal if necessary. We all wondered if a reinstatement would actually happen and, unfortunately, it did.

Reported by Eriq Gardner, Senior Editor of The Hollywood Reporter, Horror Inc. did reinstate their appeal on Friday April 12th. Since that time, Victor Miller and Horror Inc. participated in a phone conference on May 5th, and have now been ordered to phone mediation on May 23rd. Read on for the details via a tweet by Larry Zerner.

This a meeting that is mandatory for mediation, but I wonder if anything will come out of this? Hopefully a third party mediator can force a settlement to everyone’s liking.

Appeal To Friday The 13th Rights Reinstated, Battle Could Go Back To Court

2019-04-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

The ongoing saga of the rights battle for the Friday The 13th franchise has experienced many interesting turns after Horror Inc filed in October 2018 to block writer Victor Miller from gaining the rights to the original Friday The 13th film. Since that time, the original appeal to the courts findings was withdrawn, with some speculation that a settlement might be forthcoming. A few weeks ago, Entertainment and copyright lawyer Larry Zerner made it known that an April 12th deadline was in affect for Sean and Horror Inc. to file to reinstate their appeal if necessary. We all wondered if a reinstatement would actually happen and, unfortunately, it has.

According to Eriq Gardner, Senior Editor of The Hollywood Reporter, Horror Inc. did reinstate their appeal this past Friday on April 12th.

No settlement in "Friday the 13th" rights dispute. Appeal has been reinstated. Background: https://t.co/c5wlNHaOtU pic.twitter.com/nStItYITDn
— Eriq Gardner (@eriqgardner) April 12, 2019

As we found out last October, there are seemingly projects already in motion, which still include a television show and a new Friday The 13th film, which include Lebron James' Springhill Entertainment. With the appeal of Victor Miller's rights to the original Friday The 13th film now in limbo once again, it may be some time before these new projects are able to see the light of day.

Friday The 13th Rights Battle Now Heading To Phone Mediation

2019-04-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

The ongoing saga of the rights battle for the Friday The 13th franchise had an interesting turn last month as the appeal that Horror Inc filed in October 2018 to block writer Victor Miller from gaining the rights to the original Friday The 13th film was dismissed, leading many people (including me) to believe that a deal was near completion between Sean Cunningham and Victor. Since that time, there has been no deal, but a few days ago it was made known by Larry Zerner that an April 12th deadline was looming for Sean and Horror Inc to refile their appeal. Now, the a new wrinkle has been added to the litigation.

Larry has posted that a phone mediation has now been scheduled:

New news about the #Fridaythe13th lawsuit. The case is now scheduled for a phone mediation on 5/7/19. I don't know if this means Sean still has to file another Notice of Appeal by 4/12/19 but I'll check and update next week. pic.twitter.com/xuPEFN0s4d
— Larry Zerner (@Zernerlaw) April 10, 2019

I really like the CAMP acronym used in the document. How appropriate! It now looks like the earliest we could hear word of any kind of resolution is sometime in May.

Friday The 13th Rights Battle Deadline Could Bring Settlement Soon

2019-04-02T22:20:00.000-07:00

The ongoing saga of the rights battle for the Friday The 13th franchise had an interesting turn last month as the appeal that Horror Inc filed in October 2018 to block writer Victor Miller from gaining the rights to the original Friday The 13th film was dismissed, leading many people (including me) to believe that a deal was near completion between Sean Cunningham and Victor. Since that time, there has been no deal, but today entertainment and copyright lawyer Larry Zerner posted on Twitter that it is possible a deal could come soon.

According to Larry, there is an April 12, 2019 deadline for Sean Cunningham and Horror Inc to refile their appeal, or the rights would stay with Victor Miller for the original film and the two parties would have to negotiate on future projects for the use of characters and locations. The deadline to appeal is an interesting one as it could force a settlement soon, before the deadline, otherwise, Sean and Horror Inc. may decide to prolong the process with an appeal in hopes of winning without settlement. The deadline could simply pass without a deal, but then Horror Inc. would have no choice but to either deal with Victor Miller on an ongoing basis for new projects or simply negotiate a deal to buy out Victor altogether.

In case your wondering about the timeline on the #Fridaythe13th appeal. The parties stipulated to dismiss the appeal but must reinstate by 4/12. So, that gives them 10 more days to settle the case.

That doesn't mean that they can't settle later, but it puts the pressure on. pic.twitter.com/1FLKQuea9a
— Larry Zerner (@Zernerlaw) April 2, 2019

As we found out last October, there are seemingly projects already in motion, which still include a television show and a new Friday The 13th film, which include Lebron James' Springhill Entertainment April might be an exciting month for our readers, so stay tuned for the continuing story of the Friday The 13th franchise.

Horror Inc. Files Appeal In Lawsuit Loss To Victor Miller For Friday The 13th Rights

2018-10-18T12:50:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Larry Zerner mentioned that Sean Cunningham and Horror Inc. had a deadline of October 31st to file an appeal to the ruling in favor of Victor Miller which saw Horror Inc. lose it's lawsuit against the writer of the original Friday The 13th film. In a move that hopefully seems coincidental to yesterday's revelation, Horror Inc. today filed it's appeal of that decision, which will now drag out the rights battle even longer.

Well, Sean didn't wait the full 30 days to file the Notice of Appeal, which I would take to mean that Sean and Victor are not close to reaching a settlement. https://t.co/TO7cq1tdwv
— Larry Zerner (@Zernerlaw) October 18, 2018

Larry mentioned to me that this appeal process COULD take between 18-24 months, if there is no settlement reached between Victor and Horror Inc. However, we both agree that there is no way they would drag this out for that long when there is money being lost by not producing a new film during that time. Stay tuned for the next development.

About the Rights Battle
Original Friday The 13th film writer Victor Miller filed a notice of termination of copyright on January 26, 2016 for the script he wrote for the film. This is made possible due to a provision in copyright law that allows the termination of copyright 35 years after the work is completed. Furthermore, the termination must be filed two years prior to reclaiming the copyright. Since Miller filed for termination in January 2016 (and later updated the filing in July 2016), he was in line to reclaim the copyright for his work in July 2018.

Horror Inc. (the Friday The 13th rights holder) filed a lawsuit against Victor Miller in 2016 to have his copyright termination claim thrown out. Since that time, the rights battle has taken place in the courts

Deadline Set For Friday The 13th Rights Decision Appeal

2018-10-17T09:20:00.001-07:00

With the new Halloween film set to release in theaters this weekend, it is assumed and also backed up by box office tracking that it is going to have a humongous financial opening weekend. With this impending success, it will only be a matter of time before other horror franchise films get the green light for sequels or remakes. Friday The 13th is ripe for piggy backing off of this success, but first there is that pesky lawsuit to deal with.

Victor Miller won the lawsuit from Horror Inc. and many fans have been wondering what is next. Larry Zerner just provided an update for which Sean Cunningham has until October 31st to file an appeal of the decision in favor of Victor. If not, Larry feels the parties will have made a deal

For those of you wondering about what's next in the #FridayThe13th lawsuit (Horror v. Miller), Sean has until October 31 (irony alert) to file a Notice of Appeal. If no Notice is filed, then they made a deal. If not, the fight continues (for now).
— Larry Zerner (@Zernerlaw) October 17, 2018

It only makes sense for everyone to make this settlement now to prepare to make a new film and other projects while Horror is being viewed as a financial success by studios in the current market.

Horror Inc Updates On Friday The 13th Game Content Status And Attempt To Settle With Victor Miller

2018-10-04T11:53:00.001-07:00

Gun Media set out to create a definitive gaming experience to transport fans to Crystal Lake and make fans feel like they were in a Friday The 13th film. I believe they accomplished that feat. Even though there have been a number of technical issues since the game was released over a year ago, Friday The 13th: The Game has been an extremely satisfying entry into the franchise, and frankly a project that may never be attempted again.

As our site reported last week, original Friday The 13th film writer won a lawsuit filed against himself by Horror Inc. With the victory, Miller can now move forward with owning certain copyright on characters and locations in the screenplay he created for the original 1980 film. This now complicates current and future projects for the franchise as Horror Inc will have to be sure they either do not use copyrighted elements from the original film, or get permission from Victor Miller in such scenarios.

This brings us to Friday The 13th: The Game and why they announced earlier this year that they had to stop creating new content. The ruling in favor of Victor further justifies their announcement of no new content and recent comments made to Bloody Disgusting by Horror Inc suggests that a settlement was attempted to be reached with Victor, but he seems to not want to discuss settling with Sean Cunningham.

Some have asked if a settlement could be reached with Victor Miller to enable the creation of new content. Even if Gun were in a position to continue to fund the game while it was waiting for such questions to be resolved, there is no evidence to date that such a settlement is possible.

Friday the 13th director Sean Cunninghamhas previously reached out directly to Victor Miller to discuss a settlement. Miller responded by refusing to talk to Sean. Work on new content for fans was suspended because of the position that Miller has taken

It seems as though Horror Inc wants to place the blame solely on Victor, which is unfortunate. Hopefully we can hear Victor’s side of this soon and some sort of resolution can be found. Meanwhile, new Friday The 13th projects are in development that can skate around any copyright issues.

Horror Inc Responds To Victor Miller Court Ruling And Is Already Developing New Friday The 13th Projects

2018-10-01T08:05:00.001-07:00

This past Friday we brought our readers the news that original film writer Victor Miller won the lawsuit brought against him by rights holder Horror Inc, claiming he could not terminate the copyright on the script he wrote for Friday The 13th 1980. It was only a matter of time before we got a statement from Horror Inc on their loss in court and now Bloody Disgusting received that very response:

“We are disappointed in the court’s ruling and disagree with its conclusion. We are considering our options including an appeal.In the meantime, the court was very clear thatits ruling in favor of Mr. Miller is limited to the original screenplay in which Jason’s mother is the killer and that Mr. Miller’s termination notice did not purport to terminate the separate copyright in the iconic supernatural killer who wears a hockey mask. It also does not grant any rights to Mr. Miller that would enable him to use any element of the original screenplay outside of the United States.

“Following the guidelines set down by the Court’s ruling, we intend to aggressively explore many opportunities for new projects featuring settings and characters (including the hockey mask-wearing killer) not included in Mr. Miller’s screenplay, and in fact are currently in development on new projects that are consistent with the ruling which will be announced soon.”

This has been the expected response if the lawsuit did not turn out victorious for Horror Inc, however it is interesting that they are planning new projects now in accordance with the ruling. Realistically, they can move forward with a new film and the ever elusive television show as along as they do not include Mrs. Voorhees or possibly a specific iteration of young Jason. This would allow Horror Inc to release their projects in the United States and internationally. There is no way Horror Inc will create a project to release only in international markets.

One thing is for sure, this rights battle is in no way over. Stay tuned for an in-depth look and opinion of the ruling coming soon.

Victor Miller Wins Lawsuit From Horror Inc, Moves Closer To Regaining Rights

2018-09-28T16:06:00.001-07:00

Friday The 13th fans have been waiting impatiently for the rights battle between original film writer Victor Miller and current rights holder Horror Inc and Sean Cunningham. Today huge news has been reported by legal reporter Bill Donahue via Larry Zerner that Victor Miller has won the lawsuit imposed by Horror Inc. This means Victor is another step closer to gaining certain rights to the Friday The 13th franchise.

BREAKING: A federal court just sided with "Friday the 13th" screenwriter Victor Miller in his case aimed at clawing back control of the #copyrights to the script. The order itself is sealed, but judge ruled for Miller: pic.twitter.com/wXSm3RW2yU
— Bill Donahue (@Bill__Donahue) September 28, 2018

The next steps for Sean Cunningham could either be an appeal, or, what most fans want, a settlement between Victor and Sean, that untangle the rights mess. We are hoping this moves the franchise rights battle along quickly to a swift resolution. Stay tuned for more information as it is available!

Platinum Dunes’ Brad Fuller Adds More To Why Paramount Axed The 2017 Film

2018-07-30T22:53:00.001-07:00

We don’t like to pick at old wounds, but the aftermath of the 2017 Paramount film that just missed going into production is still pretty fresh in fan’s minds. Even though the script for that film leaked online and has been met with low enthusiasm, there are those in the community that would have loved to just have another Friday The 13th in theaters.

Now that the rights battle between Victor Miller, Sean Cunningham, and Horror Inc have future films at a standstill, people want to know why Paramount decided to balk at a chance for a new film before the rights were officially in question. Most recently, Brad Fuller of Platinum Dunes talked to SyFy about the failed film, and although we have posted about some of the main reasons in the past, Brad does offer up some new bits of information as to why the 2017 film never materialized.

From SyFy Wire

There was a couple of things. I think there was concern about the rights looming at that point. Paramount was concerned if they made that movie and the rights were not available… if you are going to make that movie, you want to be able to ride it for more than one or two movies. That didn’t exist in this rights structure. We were going down the road to make the movie, but, at the end of the day, economically and/or creatively, they didn’t want to make it.

There’s this clause in the rights that the rights revert back to New Line. As that date became closer and closer, Paramount would have made one Friday the 13th movie and then New Line would have benefitted if the movie was great. Then, New Line could have followed it up with subsequent movies. It put Paramount in a very tough position to go ahead and actually make the movie, and then us to reap the benefits if it was successful beyond that particular film.

As to if the failure of the film Rings really had anything to do with Paramount’s decision...

Yes, I do. That was also a time when sequels were not doing as well. We’re all kind of reactionary when you are making something. You are looking for evidence that tells you that what you are making is right on the cutting edge of where society is going, and you certainly don’t want to make something that feels like the timing is wrong. I wouldn’t say the whole thing fell apart because of that. I certainly think that played into it. But, I also think the rights and now the litigation about the right for Friday the 13th,played into it in a much more substantial way than just how the Rings sequel did.

Blue Wizard's Jason Kapalka Explains Franchise Rights Battle's Affect On New Game Content, Teases Killer Puzzle Update

2018-07-06T05:05:00.002-07:00

Like all Friday The 13th fans, we are all very upset over the legal happenings going on with the franchise rights now, which has stopped the creation of any new content with regards to the intellectual property of Friday The 13th. There has been a lot of speculation as to why and how new content cannot be created at this point.

The awesome Friday The 13th: Killer Puzzle is teasing a new Jason avatar to be released for their game soon (hint: a certain date is upon us next week) and the founder of Blue Wizard Digital (the game's producer) reached out to give a little insight into when new content creation had to stop and how Killer Puzzle is able to release a new character soon.

From Jason Kapalka

So, what's happening? We are unlocking a new Jason avatar in Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle that you can earn for free by completing a specific challenge. Let's just say that hiking alone is always a bad idea...

How are we doing this without violating the legal restrictions on new content....?

First, we are under the same restrictions as Gun (Media), and were hoping, like them, that the contractual issues would have been resolved or settled by now.

For convoluted legal reasons, January 22, 2018 was the legal deadline we had on creating new content for our game. As that date approached, we completed several Jason avatars that we put into the game but disabled, with the idea that we could release access to them later without breaching our contract.

And no, we don't have tons of secret hidden content buried away in the game, just a few items we thought might be fun to release later on if the worst legal scenarios came to pass. Like Gun, we are mostly limited to bug fixing and other technical work on the game, and are still hoping that the legal conflicts can be resolved so that we can get to work on really cool new stuff!

Blue Wizard had to soft release their game in January, well ahead of their intended release date, in order to beat the deadline in January. Hopefully, this lends a little insight into the how and why of new content creation in regards to the Friday The 13th franchise. Look for the new Jason release in Friday The 13th: Killer Puzzle soon!

The Horror Inc. Legal Battle Halts New Content For ‘Friday The 13th: The Game’

2018-06-11T18:58:00.001-07:00

As the Halloween franchise has thrived recently with the upcoming release of a new film in theaters, Friday The 13th has been stuck in a quagmire of legalities that has brought a halt to any talk of a new film release in the foreseeable future. The shining light during the legal battle for the franchise rights between Horror Inc., Sean Cunningham, and Victor Miller is the tremendous support and success of Friday The 13th: The Game. The video game has united the fan base and actually ignited new interest in the franchise. Sadly, news came down today from the game’s creator, Gun Media, that because of the legal battle, no more new content will be developed for the game.

UPDATE: Gun Media will not be producing new content for the game, even if the lawsuit is resolved. They will continue to support existing content for the game only.

From Wes Keltner on the F13game.com Site:
Development on games can’t just pause indefinitely and pick back up again; it doesn’t work that way. Especially when you have no idea when that future date will occur. We can’t keep building content that may never see the light of day. That’s bad business. I’ve also had questions about adding “non-F13” related content to the game. “Can’t you make a new level or a new counselor that has nothing to do with the films?” We can’t do that either. We can’t add any content, whatsoever. Nada. Not even a new tree or rock. We can only focus on console dedicated servers, bug fixes, and maintenance.

From F13game.com:

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY June 11, 2018

Friday the 13th: The Game has established a loyal and excited fan base over the last year. As publisher/developer, Gun and Illfonic have made every effort to provide our fans with an authentic and great gaming experience.

As many in our community may be aware, a legal claim has been made which could affect all future Friday the 13th intellectual property. Although in the past the game has not been subject to any such claim, new content and material going forward will be affected. An initial decision in this case was expected in October 2017, but no decision has yet been issued. The court review of the legal rights is in process, but final resolution may take some time. Until the claim rights can be dismissed or resolved, no new content can be released.

When we originally learned that the game fell within the crosshairs of this legal dispute, we tried to balance the creation of new content requested by our fans against the maintenance and bug fixing that our community expects and deserves. We attempted to do both within the limits of the legal case.

We’ve now been forced to accept that the lawsuit makes future content for the game, including alternate play modes, new playable Jasons and Counselors, and new maps, unfeasible now or in the future. Although the listed content types will be affected, we remain committed to launching dedicated servers on our console platforms and providing the continued maintenance and bug fixing important to supporting our fan base.

So what does this mean exactly? There will be no additional content added to Friday the 13th: The Game. This includes “Uber Jason”, The Grendel Map, Jason Kill Packs, Clothing, Emotes and new Counselors.

- Gun

This is truly unfortunate and the fact that we will no longer get the highly anticipated Uber-Jason is really disappointing. Gun Media delivered a game experience well beyond expectations and every fan should be appreciative of the fact that we will always have a completely immersive experience in Crystal Lake that allows us to relive the films over and over again.

Hopefully, once the rights issues are resolved, the game updates will be able to resume and possibly a new film can finally be developed.

Memo From 1979 Surfaces That Could Sway Friday The 13th Rights Battle

2018-05-22T14:01:00.001-07:00

As we wrote last summer, the ongoing litigation over the Friday The 13th film rights and their use in future films is front and center in the horror community. Original writer of the 1980 film, Victor Miller, filed a termination of rights in 2017 against usage of characters and other aspects of his original script which allow him to have full control of any elements of his script for future films. That termination is supposed to take place in 2018, but when Miller filed his termination of rights, longtime production company of the Friday films, Horror Inc, as well as Manny Films (Sean Cunningham) sued Victor claiming he was a work for hire writer and not elegible to file for the termination of rights.

If Victor wins his case, he wouldn’t get everything in the franchise that fans have come to know today from within the films. As mentioned in interviews with the Hollywood Reporter last year:

Bonnie Eskenazi, representing the producers (Horror, Inc):

Miller’s purported rights could only extend to those elements of the screenplays that he actually created. Here, it is undisputed that Miller did not create either the title 'Friday the 13th' or the 'Jason' character as a living adult monster who is the villainous killer in all of the eleven (11) sequels. Instead, Cunningham created the title 'Friday the 13th' and Miller created a 'Jason' character that died as a young boy due to the negligence of his camp counselors. Accordingly, Miller cannot claim any right to the title 'Friday the 13th,' or the ongoing 'Jason' character, or Jason’s iconic look of a man in a hockey mask carrying a machete.

Marc Toberoff, the attorney representing Victor Miller:

Whereas Miller will thereby recover the U.S. copyright to his original film treatment and screenplay this does not prevent the continued exploitation by Plaintiffs or their licensees of prior derivative works, including the 1980 film and its many sequels; it solely relates to new derivative works after the effective 2018 termination date," writes the attorney. "Furthermore, as the U.S. Copyright Act has no extra-territorial application, the foreign rights to Miller’s screenplay remain with Plaintiffs or their licensees.

The fear that has been echoed by our readers for almost a year is that a decision in Victor’s favor could fracture the franchise and conceivably there could be competing Friday films, one with the Friday The 13th title and another film with something completely different (Friday 13 would be a fun one). The prevailing thought is that it will never come to that as the lawsuit against Victor is pretty air tight. That was until a new revelation came to the forefront recently.

According to IPwire, Victor’s first draft may have been circulated before he signed an agreement with Sean Cunningham:

Miller wrote and provided a first draft to producer Sean Cunningham’s company without any contract or guarantee of payment, enabling Cunningham to raise money and attract talent to proceed with the project. The parties executed a screenwriting agreement on June 4, 1979, but newly discovered evidence suggests that Miller’s first draft was already complete prior to the date of that agreement. Specifically, a memo to Cunningham from his assistant documents a conversation with Tom Savini dated May 22, 1979

—its contents are significant because the assistant mentions that Tom requested to see a script and that she will send him the “first draft.” In addition, a letter addressed to Savini dated May 23 states, “I am enclosing the first draft of FRIDAY 13 [the working title at the time], as per our conversation yesterday.” This, of course, begs the existential question of how Cunningham’s assistant could have sent Savini the requested first draft script unless it had already been written.

This is an interesting development that was introduced late in litigation. If this is true, it would prove that Victor was not a work for hire employee and did indeed conceive of the story before being employed by Sean Cunningham. In affect, it could help dismiss the suit against Victor Miller and finally brings the rights issue to a close, or at least a negotiation of rights between all parties involved.

The Friday The 13th Rights Battle: What It Means For Future Films And The Current Video Game

2017-07-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of weeks we have received a slew of emails and messages on social media about the ongoing legal battle between original Friday The 13th film writer Victor Miller and current rights holder Sean Cunningham and Horror, Inc. This rights battle has created a lot of uneasiness among the fans which was further compounded by Paramount pulling the plug on the new film this past February. With uncertainty about what exactly is happening with the franchise, we thought it would be best to try and break down what is happening now and how it could affect future films and the current video game going forward.

The Hollywood Reporter had a nice write-up about the ongoing litigation last month and it helped point out some interesting facts.

Bonnie Eskenazi, representing the producers (Horror, Inc):

Miller’s purported rights could only extend to those elements of the screenplays that he actually created. Here, it is undisputed that Miller did not create either the title 'Friday the 13th' or the 'Jason' character as a living adult monster who is the villainous killer in all of the eleven (11) sequels. Instead, Cunningham created the title 'Friday the 13th' and Miller created a 'Jason' character that died as a young boy due to the negligence of his camp counselors. Accordingly, Miller cannot claim any right to the title 'Friday the 13th,' or the ongoing 'Jason' character, or Jason’s iconic look of a man in a hockey mask carrying a machete.

Marc Toberoff, the attorney representing Victor Miller:

Whereas Miller will thereby recover the U.S. copyright to his original film treatment and screenplay this does not prevent the continued exploitation by Plaintiffs or their licensees of prior derivative works, including the 1980 film and its many sequels; it solely relates to new derivative works after the effective 2018 termination date," writes the attorney. "Furthermore, as the U.S. Copyright Act has no extra-territorial application, the foreign rights to Miller’s screenplay remain with Plaintiffs or their licensees.

What this all means is that if Victor Miller wins his case, any future films in the franchise made for distribution in the United States would be controlled by Miller. The films he would legally be able to produce would be limited, however, as stated previously by Bonnie Eskenazi, in that the character of Jason Voorhees could not be represented with the iconic hockey mask and it seems as though the title 'Friday The 13th' may not be used either.

Although fans may not like these revelations, it would represent a unique opportunity to truly reboot the franchise, and possibly, re-tune the concept. We would still have Camp Crystal Lake, and characters such as Pamela and Jason Voorhees, Crazy Ralph, Mr. Christie, Alice, and others seen in the original film that a new story could be formed around. I have been saying it for years, but a new film title like 'Camp Blood' or 'Camp Crystal Lake' could really work in a Victor Miller controlled franchise reboot.

With that being said, the other side of Victor possibly winning his litigation leaves the door open for Horror, Inc. and Sean Cunningham to create more films to be distributed in foreign markets outside of the United States. It's hard to imagine, but you could have franchise films being produced separately, both domestically and internationally by two different companies with completely different storylines and neither film would be available to view in the other markets. This part makes my head spin and I really hope this scenario never happens.

Besides the films, there has been a lot of concern over the future of the Friday The 13th video game that was released by Gun Media in May. Gun has been saying it for months now, but we wanted to put everyone's mind at ease, nothing is going to happen to the game.

As stated by Robert Wyman, the lawyer for Horror, Inc, in an interview with GamerRevolution this week:

We can absolutely confirm that the Victor Miller claim does not impact the current game being distributed by Gun Media now or in the future," Wyman told GameRevolution. "Even if he won his action, Mr. Miller would not own the Jason character as he has come to be known and loved and feared. He did not create the title and so would not have the right to control its use.

The game will not be pulled from consoles and future updates and DLC content will not cease to exist because of the possible judgement in Victor Miller's favor.

Right now all the fans can do is wait to see what happens with the court proceedings. We will know way more about the state of the Friday The 13th franchise when July 2018 rolls around and the rights could conceivably be awarded to Victor Miller. At the point, everything we have lived and experienced with Camp Crystal Lake in the past forty years could be turned upside down on Jason's deformed head.

Sean Cunningham Questioned In Legal Battle Over Friday The 13th Franchise

2017-05-19T05:24:00.001-07:00

Back in August 2016, we brought you the full explanation of why Victor Miller is filing to attain the rights to the Friday The 13th franchise. That information came on the heals of Horror Inc. and Manny Company (successor to Georgetown Productions) filing a lawsuit against original Friday The 13th writer Victor Miller in response to the notice of termination Victor sent the producers in an attempt to gain the rights to the franchise. We had not heard anything about the progress of the litigation until yesterday and now we have more details.

Last Friday, original Friday The 13th director and current rights holder Sean Cunningham was deposed under oath by Victor Miller's attorney Marc Toberoff. According to iHorror, Cunningham was questioned about the claim that Victor was hired as an independent contractor for which Sean has denied and still holds his stance that it was a work for hire arrangement. Also mentioned during the deposition was the fact that, according to Cunningham, a screenplay nor a treatment was even completed three months before filming commenced on the 1980 film.

Cunningham also testified that Victor's name never appeared in the original Variety advertisement used to gain financing for production of the original film and that the title of the draft that Miller eventually did turn in was titled Long Night At Camp Blood and not Friday The 13th. Victor has countered that claim stating the original shooting script was titled Friday 13 and not Friday The 13th as well. Cunningham also mentioned while being questioned that he does not believe he is the creator of the Jason character as the fans know him because the character was dead in all of the drafts created by Miller.

Miller's attorney, Marc Toberoff, is now currently seeking out an old secretary for Sean Cunningham to corroborate Victor's claims and dispute Sean's testimony under oath. According to iHorror, another hurdle in the litigation is if Victor can gain rights to both North American and International markets so future films can be distributed without extra legal hurdles. The most interesting revelation from the deposition is that Victor claims he does not want to control the entire franchise, but wants the power to negotiate a new deal and have some leverage as an author over the existing franchise. On June 9th, Victor looks to file for summary judgement and if that fails, this dispute will be going to trial.

It seems like Victor wants a controlling stake in the direction of the franchise going forward, and wants to be paid accordingly. Stay tuned as this looks to be heading to trial and things will get interesting.

Victor Miller Files New Motion To Gain Rights To Friday The 13th InContinuing Litigation

2016-10-25T11:11:00.001-07:00

Back in August, we brought you the full explanation of why Victor Miller is filing to attain the rights to Friday The 13th. That information came on the heals of Horror Inc. and Manny Company (successor to Georgetown Productions) filing a lawsuit against original Friday The 13th writer Victor Miller in response to the notice of termination he sent the producers in an attempt to gain the rights to the franchise. Until last week we heard nothing about the progress of the litigation until The Hollywood Reporter reported on Miller's Motion To Dismiss.

The motion was filed on October 17th by Miller's attorney Marc Toberoff to throw out Horror Inc.'s lawsuit against the writer and argues that Victor's involvement was not really a "work made for hire."

According to the document:

"While the Screenplay was clearly commissioned by Manny for use as part of a motion picture, the Film, Plaintiff never alleges that a written instrument signed by Manny agreeing the Screenplay shall be considered a 'work made for hire,' and the Agreement attached to the Complaint, and alleged by Plaintiffs to be Miller’s operative agreement, does not contain any such express agreement, nor even the phrase 'work made for hire' or 'work for hire.'"

The motion also details that there was never an allegation he was paid a salary, had taxes and social security withheld, or worked on the producer's premises in the writing of Friday the 13th. Miller alleges he was hired for the sole task of writing the script for Friday The 13th 1980 and provided his own tools to do so.

There is also another portion of Victor's motion.

As outlined by The Hollywood Reported:
If the first motion deals with plaintiff's work-for-hire and employee ownership theories, the second one addresses the need to protect Miller's First Amendment rights.

Miller's motion to strike (read here) is a bit more nuanced insofar as it asks a Connecticut judge to apply California's anti-SLAPP statute, which gives recourse to those whose First Amendment activity on public interest subjects are being deterred by frivolous legal actions. When most people think of the First Amendment, they think of free speech or free press or freedom of religion. Less recognized is the right to petition, and here, Miller argues that his termination notices constitute such protected petition activity.

California courts have accepted this proposition, but whether or not a Connecticut judge will apply California's anti-SLAPP statute is a bit more thorny. Miller asserts he's a "long-time resident of California," for whatever that's worth.

If Miller is able to convince the judge that the lawsuit falls within the ambit of California's anti-SLAPP statute, then the judge would address whether Horror, Inc. and Manny Company have a likelihood of prevailing before moving the case any further. For the reasons articulated above, Miller tells the judge that the plaintiffs cannot show a reasonable probability of success on their ownership theories nor do plaintiffs' separate breach of contract, slander of title and unfair competition claims survive being preempted by federal copyright law.

Now it is up the court to see if Victor Miller's motion is just and worthy of throwing out Horror Inc. and Manny Company's lawsuit against him. We will keep our readers updated in this continuing saga for the future rights of the Friday The 13th franchise.