WHATS IT ABOUT?
Victor Miller, the original film's scriptwriter, is looking to reclaim rights, but will he be able to take the hockey-masked "Jason" with him?
The suit was filed quite some time ago, after Victor Miller sought to take advantage of a provision of copyright law that, according to The Hollywood Reporter, “allows authors to terminate a grant of rights and reclaim ownership 35 years after publishing.” Horror, Inc., on the other hand, alleged that Miller “wrote Friday the 13th as a work-made-for-hire after Cunningham came up with an idea to capitalize on the success of the then-recently released horror film Halloween.” As such, his termination notice was ineffective.
In the 1970s, the U.S. Congress amended copyright law by allowing authors or their heirs to terminate a grant of rights and reclaim ownership. Victor Miller, the screenwriter of the original Friday the 13th, is looking to do exactly that. But in a bid to reclaim rights as soon as next year, he's facing contentions from the 1980 film's producer, Sean Cunningham, that Miller wrote Friday the 13th as a work-made-for-hire and has no ability to terminate.
Because of the 1976 US Copyright Act, artists have the ability to challenge for the rights to work they may have sold off after 35 years.1 As artists typically have no leverage when initially licensing their property to big money studios, this provision gives them a second chance to negotiate for a better deal after fully measuring the scope of the work’s success. At the time, Miller was only paid around $10000 for his Friday the 13th screenplay, yet the film went on to gross almost $40 million at the box office (or $130 million in 2018 dollars).
Horror, Inc. and the Manny Company are the plaintiffs, claiming in their lawsuit that Miller wrote Friday the 13th as a work-made-for-hire. Specifically, they say that in 1979, Sean Cunningham had the idea to capitalize on the success of the then-recently released horror film Halloween and went to Miller, with whom he had previously worked on a film titled Here Come the Tigers, to develop this idea.
HERES THE UPDATE:
Within the closing weeks of September, Friday the 13th screenwriter Victor Miller has prevailed in a lengthy legal battle that will determine the future fate of the franchise.
It was explained that U.S. District Court Judge Stefan Underhill granted summary judgment in favor of Miller and against the producers, Horror, Inc. Full details were not disclosed, but Miller is said to be retaining the Friday the 13th rights in the U.S. alone, which makes it complicated to use the title.
As for Jason Voorhees, his infamous mask wasn’t introduced until Friday the 13th Part III, which means Horror Inc. can use the character without Miller’s consent.
In fact, Bloody Disgusting just obtained a statement regarding the recent Friday the 13th court ruling from franchise producer Horror, Inc.:
“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 that its 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.”
VIA BLOODY DISGUISTING .com:
The good news here is that Jason Voorhees will find a way to be resurrected, but it sounds like this is going to be a long road to resolution. We’ll keep you posted as new details surface, and with any news on Horror Inc.’s forthcoming Friday-related projects. Watch this spot.
WHAT COULDLD THIS MEAN?
It appears any Friday the 13th movie made in the U.S. that doesn’t have Miller at the helm won’t be called Friday the 13th. It can, however, still feature Jason Voorhees since, as any fan of the franchise knows, Jason is just a little ghost boy in the water in that movie and not the hockey-masked killer he eventually becomes.
THE GAME?
Now, Friday the 13th: The Game exists in a weird sort of limbo where it is still technically online and playable but it also won’t be receiving any new gameplay or content updates from here on out.
[Updated Oct. 1 @ 10:32 am] Headline change to reflect new info.
[Update Oct. 1 11:53 am] An earlier version of this story speculated that Victor Miller would control rights in the title “Friday the 13th“. Horror, Inc. has reached out to us to confirm that Victor Miller has not been granted any rights in the name “Friday the 13th.
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