Judge Dismisses Copyright Suit Over Fox's 'Percy Jackson' Franchise

Doane Gregory/Fox 2000 Pictures A NY federal judge has overlooked a copyright suit that mentioned last century Fox, the Wally Disney Co. while others mixed up in making in the Percy Jackson quantity of books and film lifted material from numerous youthful-adult books. The suit was filed in May 2010 byRobyn and Tony DiTocco, authors in the Hero Perseus: A Mad Myth Mystery (2002) and Atlas' Revenge: Another Mad Myth Mystery (2004), which told the story from the character named Percy John Allen ("PJ"), a modern day-day teen who descended within the Greek mythological hero Perseus which is summoned to fight ancient battles to have the ability to save the earth while balancing the needs from the every-day teen. The claims collected some attention because the DiToccos were represented by Marc Toberoff, the attorney which has fought against large Hollywood art galleries combined with develop a complaint that listed hundreds of parallels involving the five Percy Jackson books by author Ron Riordan as well as the two books with the litigants. Nevertheless, copyright law suits alleging substantial similarity are tough, and here's another illustration showing a complaintant which has not successful to acquire past the initial threshold of showing misappropriated expression. In the decision on Tuesday, NY Judge Sidney Stein supplies a extended analysis why no reasonable jury could conclude the 2 works are substantially similar. A few good good examples: The PJ books are told in third person.The Percy Jackson books are told in first person by Percy themselves. The PJ books cover the protagonist's existence near to the finish of secondary school and into college. The Percy Jackson material is positioned when the primary character is age 12 to 16. The PJ books educate site visitors about Greek mythology by straight exposition within the messenger Hermes whereas Percy Jackson is told these myths through conversations with some other figures at Camping Half-Blood stream. To make certain, the judge values some parallels, starting with the fact both figures share the identical title. Take into account that title derives within the hero Perseus of Greek mythology, a personality the judge notes is "unquestionably inside the public domain," there's a simple explanation. Plus, other noted parallels for instance figures who've to deal with missing parents and display potency and effectiveness in battles with otherworldly forces are thought being commonplace inside the youthful male hero genre in works for instance Harry Potter and Spider-Guy. The bottom line is, look left at two works and uncover parallels look right and uncover dissimilarities and common ideas. As they are common practice nowadays, Judge Stein favors the medial side that dismisses the claims on summary judgment. E-mail: eriqgardner@yahoo.com Twitter: @eriqgardner Percy Jackson as well as the Olympians: The Lightning Crook