Director Guillermo del Toro, Fox Searchlight, and others “associated with the Oscar contender ‘The Shape of Water’” have just been slapped with a copyright infringement lawsuit by the estate of Paul Zindel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. The suit itself was filed by “David Zindel, acting as a trustee of his and his sister Lizabeth’s trusts, which equally share the rights to their father’s literary works.”
Director Guillermo del Toro, Fox Searchlight, and others “associated with ‘The Shape of Water‘” have just been slapped with a copyright infringement lawsuit by the estate of Paul Zindel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. The suit itself was filed by “David Zindel, acting as a trustee of his and his sister Lizabeth’s trusts, which equally share the rights to their father’s literary works.”
David Zindel decided to file the lawsuit shortly after he noticed “alleged similarities between ‘The Shape of Water’ and his father’s 1969 play ‘Let Me Hear You Whisper,’ and the studio’s reaction after Zindel made his concerns known.” How did the studio react when confronted with the allegations, though? Well, according to a recent statement, Fox Searchlight Pictures “called the claims baseless and said the suit seems timed to coincide with the Academy Award voting cycle in order to pressure the studio to quickly settle.”
In response to the studio’s statement, Marc Toberoff said, “the timing is of their own making…They knew about it and did nothing.” In an interview last Thursday he added that “Zindel contacted the studio about five weeks ago about the alleged similarities in response to a groundswell of public comments to that effect.”
Not once in the credits did ‘The Shape of Water’ credit Zindel. Instead, according to the lawsuit, the Oscar-nominated movie “has a ‘story by’ credit and shares the screenwriting credit with Vanessa Taylor.” It should be noted, however, that it’s unlikely that “Del Toro himself had anything to do with the alleged copyright infringement…Rather, as is true with most copyright situations, someone in the production chain likely introduced the idea on the way to the final product,” according to Toberoff. Who was that special someone in this particular scenario? Well, Daniel Kraus, a producer for the film, is mentioned as a defendant in the case for allegedly “pitching the idea to Del Toro.”
“Kraus is both on record as an admirer of Zindel’s work and came up with the ‘idea’ for the Picture the very year the A&E production of Zindel’s Play first aired on national television…These and other telling details from the writing and production of the Picture strongly evidence that Defendants knowingly infringed Zindel’s Play.”
For those who don’t know, ‘The Shape of Water’ and Zindel’s play follows the story of a “lonely female janitor working in a laboratory where an intelligent sea creature is being held and ultimately threatened.” As stated in the lawsuit, there are “more than 60 similarities between the works, including oddball elements such as a decapitated cat and a record player in a science lab.”
The studio has made it clear that it intends to push back against the lawsuit, saying it will “vigorously defend ourselves and, by extension, this groundbreaking and original film.”
Del Toro has yet to comment on the matter.
Sources:
Oscar contender ‘The Shape of Water’ facing copyright infringement lawsuit
Guillermo del Toro Sued, Accused of Stealing Idea for ‘Shape of Water’
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