Lawsuit Over `Purge’ Screenplay Survives Anti-SLAPP Motion

Universal City Studios Inc. and other parties involved in the making of 2013 horror movie “The Purge” and its sequels failed to get breach-of-contract claims accompanying a copyright infringement claim thrown out under a state law intended to protect free expression (Jordan-Benel v. Univ. City Studios, Inc., 2017 BL 210203, 9th Cir., 15-56045, 6/20/17).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed June 20 that the state’s anti-SLAPP law didn’t apply to contract claims by a screenwriter. Douglas Jordan-Benel said that “The Purge” was based on a screenplay he submitted to United Talent Agency Inc., whose ...