A Writer Sues Warner Bros. for Allegedly Basing ‘Space Jam’ Off of a Copyrighted Short Story
Plaintiff Walter L. Lowe, Jr., author of “The Devil and Doodazzle Dakins,” a fictional story that was published in Playboy magazine in April 1984, is suing film studio Warner Bros. and a host of other defendants for making, marketing, and selling the animated film Space Jam. Last Thursday’s Eastern District of Texas complaint names Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Warner Media LLC, WB Studio Enterprises Inc., Warner Bros. Animation, Home Box Office Inc., Redbox Automated Retail LLC, Amazon.com Inc., Walmart Inc., and Best Buy Co. Inc. as defendants.
Reportedly, Lowe’s story depicts a cosmic battle of good versus evil, wherein a game of “astral basketball” is used to determine the fate of mankind. After the story’s publication in Playboy, Lowe was approached by two Hollywood screenwriters.
For $3,000 and a period of six months per option, the plaintiff twice optioned his movie rights to Tim Harris and Herschel Weingrod. However, the filing claims, the option periods lapsed without action, and Lowe never heard from Harris and Weingrod again.
