Facts

Everette Silas and Sherri Littleton sued Home Box Office Inc., Stephen Levinson, Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Bucks Entertainment Inc., and Leverage Management Inc., in connection with the HBO Original Series "Ballers."

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs wrote the script entitled "Off Season", which they pitched to several individuals in late 2008-early 2009. Though there was expressed interest, talks fizzled because they were unwilling to give plaintiffs "created by" credits. Plaintiffs alleged on information and belief that those individuals shared some of plaintiffs' materials with individuals who would later become involved in the HBO series. After "Ballers" premiered several years later, plaintiffs claimed it was substantially similar to "Off Season". Plaintiff asserted a cause of action for copyright infringement.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendants denied there was any similarity in protectable expression between plaintiff's works and "Ballers". Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.

Result

The trial court concluded that there was no similarity of protectable expression between the works, and that plaintiffs therefore could never state a claim for infringement, and granted defendants' motion to dismiss with prejudice.