IP Law Daily, COPYRIGHT—C.D. Cal.: ‘Prodigal Son’ was illicit offspring of popular series of novels, a new complaint asserts, (Sep 26, 2022)
By Matthew Hersh, J.D.
The copyright lawsuit alleges a wide range of similarities between the TV show and the earlier works.
A short-lived television series centered around a serial killer’s son who winds up hunting murderers of his own purloined improperly from the plot of a popular series of novels with the same theme, a new copyright lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit, filed in the federal district court for the Los Angeles by author Barry Lyga, alleges that the show’s producers optioned the original novel at one point—but then ran the allegedly infringing series anyway after the option had expired (Lyga v. Warner Bros. Television, September 21, 2022).
The lawsuit arises out of a series of popular novels centered around the exploits of Jasper “Jazz” Dent, the seventeen-year-old son of the “world’s most notorious serial killer,” Billy Dent. The series launched with the novel “I Hunt Killers,” which reached number three, the complaint asserts, on the New York Times bestseller list in 2013. The I Hunt Killers series eventually came to encompass three novels published between 2012 and 2014 (I Hunt Killers, Game, and Blood of My Blood) as well as six prequels and novellas of the same theme.
Warner Brothers optioned I Hunt Killers, the lawsuit alleges, prior to its publication. The network held on to its rights to the book for three years, renewing the option twice and working with a writer and showrunner to craft a pilot for ABC Family before the project was scrapped. Despite its failure to renew the option, the lawsuit alleges, Warner Brothers launched the similar-themed Prodigal Son series in 2019. The series ran for only two seasons before being cancelled.
The lawsuit, which appears to be carefully crafted around Ninth Circuit precedent for adjudging substantial similarity in copyright infringement actions, elaborates a wide range of alleged similarities between the TV series and the novel. These include, according to the complaint, alleged similarities in the plot and sequence of events, certain aspects of the dialogue, themes, character traits, settings, mood and pace, and selection, arrangement, and combination of elements. The lawsuit asserts claims of copyright infringement as well as unfair competition under California law.
The case is No. 2:22-cv-06814-PA-AGR.
Attorneys: Ginam Lee (Vox Trial Attorneys PC) for Barry Lyga.
Companies: Warner Bros. Television Studios; Fox Broadcasting Co; and Makenna Productions, Inc.
Cases: Copyright CaliforniaNews