‘Empire’ Conquers Another Copyright Infringement Claim

The makers of the Fox TV series “Empire” defeated a claim that the show infringed an author’s book about family drama.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a motion to dismiss copyright infringement claims by Chloris C. Hall against “Empire” creator Lee Daniels and the Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. The court ruled that the TV show wasn’t substantially similar to the book.

Fox has thus far faced down several copyright infringement lawsuits over “Empire,” including a claim that the show copied its breakout character, Cookie Lyon, from an ex-con’s memoir, and another claiming the ...