You know you’re a success when you get sued.  I fondly remember Colin Farrell threatening to sue me after I released his sex tape.  In my defense, how could I ignore footage of a nude Farrell asking his partner to “show me your pussy” only to have the camera focus on a cat?  Needless to say, the suit was dropped and we later shared a laugh and a pint.  Paramount Pictures is being sued for copyright infringement regarding the sequel to Top Gun.  Apparently the very first Top Gun was inspired by a piece in California magazine way back in 1983.  The story was optioned, meaning the authors were paid and received screen credit.  Now, I’m no legal expert, but seems to me that if a story inspired the first film, then the sequel would also be inspired by that story.  And the authors agree with me, calling Top Gun: Maverick “derivative” – which I reckon you could call any Tom Cruise flick!  The rights to the article – which inspired the original and, hence, the sequel – reverted to the original authors in January of 2020.  Stay tuned.

Sometimes a suit is simply a nuisance (see Colin Farrell and his pussy).  Mariah Carey has been sued for copyright infringement over “All I Want for Christmas Is You”.  Let’s briefly forget that Mimi’s version came out in 1994, which begs the question, where were these prospective original composers for the past 28 years?  It is true that Andy Stone wrote his “All I Want for Christmas Is You” which was released in 1989.  And it did indeed get what is termed as “extensive airplay” during the 1993 holiday season.  In fact, it reached 55 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles – which is nothing to sneeze at.  Stone is suing for “copyright infringement and unjust enrichment”.  However, experts state that the only similarity between the two songs is the title – which is not copyrightable.  I listened to Stone’s version, and find not a single melodic similarity.  Mind you, the song is not without merit.  In 2021, Kelly Clarkson covered it on her holiday effort, When Christmas Comes Around…  Frankly, I think Andy should be grateful he got to deal with Clarkson and didn’t have to bother with any of that Butterfly bullshit.