Victor Miller wages war in the courts with Horror Inc. and Sean Cunningham for copyright over "Friday the 13th" and "Jason"

Gosh! It looks like it' all kicked off whilst I've been on a break from blogging.

But you may or may not know but over in the U.S.A according to Friday13thfranchise.com and The Hollywood Reporter.com's website the original scriptwriter of "Friday The 13th" films Victor Miller wants to terminate his rights to "Friday the 13th" and the "Jason" character and reclaim ownership of both of these things as is allowed in copyright law as in the 1970s U.S Congress amended copyright law by allowing authors or their heirs to terminate a grant of rights and reclaim ownership.

But here's the sticking point...

Sean Cunningham who original produced the "The Friday 13th" film in the 1980s says that as he hired Victor Miller on a work for hire basis he has no right to terminate.

And Horror Inc. as well as it's successor company that originally produced the 1980s "Friday the 13th" film Manny Company also says in court papers according to The Hollywood Reporter's website that it was Sean Cunningham who came up with the idea for a Halloween-type film, and that it was Sean Cunningham who hired the team including Victor Miller to develop the idea for this Haloween-type film and that it was Sean Cunningham who got the financing for this film as well as it being Sean Cunningham who controlled all creative decisions.

Lawyers representing the producers argue according to The Hollywood Reporter's website that as Victor Miller is still a member of the Writers Guild Of America he scripted the "Friday The 13th" film under a standard Writers Guild Of America employment agreement.

According to Bonnie Eskenazi who is representing the producers of "Friday the 13th":

"This fact is critical because the WGA negotiates with employers on behalf of its members to set the minimum terms and conditions of employment, which are reflected in its collective bargaining agreement..."

She goes on to say that:

"WGA members, like Miller do not have the right to freely negotiate the minimum terms and conditions of their employment"

So this to me sounds like the producers are claiming that as Victor Miller signed a standard employee agreement which by the sounds of it for all intents and purposes is kind of a contract as Bonnie Eskenazi says this "...provides substantial employee benefits for Miller, such as a minimum guaranteed salary, payment of residuals, sequel payments and pension benefits and health benefits..." so their arguing (the producers) that as Victor Miller signed this he wouldn't have been able to say he was going to work for hire as you can't just say your going to work creating an idea for someone who wants a Halloween-type film, put all your time, all hours of the day as well as all your energy into this project and say you want x amount of salary for this and can you give them a writing credit for this, but then not cover yourself officially by not signing a Writer's Guild Of America agreement as that would be silly to me as it was just opening himself up to being taken advantage of writing wise as Sean Cunningham, Manny Company and Horror Inc. could have said yeah they'll do all the things he's asked for but then as it wasn't officially written down they could turn around and not actually do any of these demands and deny all knowledge that he even asked for any kind of salary and writing credits...but as Victor Miller is a member of the Writer's Guild Of America he would have signed such an agreement that would have looked after him in terms of the hours he'd be working, what capacity would he be working on this, would he be getting any credit for this, how much would he be getting paid for this work, how much would he be paid if there were to be any spin offs of this depending on the first films success or if there were any sequels from this first movie and the WGA would have also negotiated what kind of pension Miller would have received therefore Miller was in no position to negotiate terms of employment.

Sounds like false advertising to me.

But as according to TheHollywoodReporter's website under copywrite law if any works are done in the scope of employment then it's the employer who's considered the statutory author. That is why also according to this website the producers are arguing that "Friday The 13th" was Sean Cunningham's vision not Victor Miller's.

But Victor Miller's lawyer Marc Toberoff argues according to TheHollywoodReporter's website that he wrote a 15 page treatment called "The Long Knight At Camp Blood" and screenplay "on spec" at his home without daily supervision. And he also argues that he worked as a freelancer over the course of two months and it was up to him when and how long he would work, as to the the Writer's Guild Of America argument that the producers are raising he was paid no employee benefits whatsoever i.e no health insurance, no paid vacation, no pension etc and he was only paid $5,569 upon delivery of a first draft and $3,713 upon delivery of a final draft screenplay, and the revisions with the exception of a new ending were 'minor'.

But here's a very important part of this puzzle Sean Cunningham, Horror Inc. and Manny Company argue that back in 1979 Victor Miller knew that Cunningham asserted ownership of "Friday The 13th" and thus he also knew he had three years to raise a claim to these rights.

So this sounds to me that the producers are saying if he knew this then why is it now that Victor Miller wants to terminate his rights to the both "Friday The 13th" and "Jason" and then reclaim ownership of these things?

But here is another sticky point to this case because the producers argue that:

"...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 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 councillors..."

So this sounds like to me that the producers are not disputing that it wasn't Victor Miller who came up with the title "Friday The 13th" nor is it disputed that Victor Miller came up with the idea to make the "Jason" character that was used in all eleven sequels to be a living adult monster. And that it was Sean Cunningham who created the title "Friday The 13th" and that Victor Miller came up with the "Jason" character.
 
And these lawyers go on to argue that:
 
"Miller would submit drafts of his writings, and Cunningham would make changes and modifications and mark up drafts. Miller would take notes and incorporate changes..."

And it also sounds like to me that the lawyers are also trying to argue that Victor Miller would work with Sean Cunningham and he would make drafts of writings using ideas from Cunningham and or make notes and incorporate changes as and when needed.

So this sounds like to me its one hell of a mess that needs to be sorted because Victor Miller's lawyer points out that if a judge honoured the termination provisions of the copyright code then:

"...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 1980s and its many sequels; it solely relates to new derivative works after the effective 2018 termination date..."

Marc Toberoff also points out that:

"...as the U.S Copyright Act has no extra-territorial application, the foreign rights to Miller's screenplay remain with Plaintiffs or their licensees..."

So according to fridaythe13thfranchise.com's website if Victor Miller were to win this case he would regain the rights and any future films that were to be distributed in the USA, but he wouldn't be able to have the rights to any other future films that were to contain the character "Jason Vorhees" and represented wearing a white hockey mask or even the title "Friday The 13th".