Farhad Safinia v. Voltage Pictures LLC, a California limited liability company; Voltage Productions LLC, a Nevada limited liability company; Christchurch Productions DAC, an Ireland designated activity company; Nicolas Chartier, an individual; and Does 1 through 100, inclusive
Published: Apr. 19, 2019 | Result Date: Mar. 12, 2019 | Filing Date: Sep. 19, 2017 |Case number: 2:17-cv-06902 Summary Judgment – Defense
Judge
Court
CD CA
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Jeffrey D. McFarland
(Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Sullivan LLP)
Shahin Rezvani
(Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Sullivan LLP)
Aaron H. Perahia
(Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Sullivan LLP)
Defendant
Jeremiah T. Reynolds
(Eisner LLP)
Ryan D. Austin
(Eisner APC)
Facts
Farhad Safinia filed suit against Voltage Pictures, LLC, Voltage Productions LLC, Christchurch Productions DAC, and Nicolas Chartier in relation to defendants' preparation of a screenplay and motion picture entitled, "The Professor and The Madman."
Contentions
PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Safinia alleged that in 2016, he wrote a screenplay and directed it into a motion picture. Safinia claimed he registered the screenplay for copyright protection on Aug. 4, 2017, and received a certificate of registration for copyright No. PAu003847498. Safinia alleged defendants' "The Professor and The Madman" was an unauthorized derivative work of his work in violation of his copyright. Further, Safinia claimed defendants willfully made malicious defamatory remarks about him, intending to disparage his name and professional reputation.
DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendants denied the allegations. Defendants claimed Safinia's work on the screenplay was a work made for hire, and Safinia never claimed to own the rights to the original script. Defendants claimed all Safinia did was condense the original script, and he owned no rights to the screenplay.
Result
The court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment.
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