Paramount Win in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Copyright Suit Affirmed (1)

The 2022 sequel “Top Gun: Maverick” didn’t infringe the copyright for the magazine article that inspired the original 1986 film, the Ninth Circuit affirmed.

The family of Ehud Yonay failed to establish Paramount Pictures Corp.'s film copied enough protectable material to possibly constitute infringement, according to the Friday opinion from the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Circuit Judge Eric D. Miller said that while Yonay’s vivid phrasing and innovative structure were protecable, none of that appeared in “Maverick.” Broad ideas and facts such as the nature of certain airplanes are not protectable, he said, concluding that “what ...