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Michael Mann Sues New Regency Over 'Heat' Copyright
Confirmed
In Short: Michael Mann is suing New Regency to reclaim the copyright to his original 'Heat' screenplay.
Michael Mann is embroiled in a legal dispute with New Regency Pictures over the copyright to his original screenplay for the 1995 crime classic 'Heat.' The lawsuit, filed in California federal court, seeks to terminate New Regency's rights to the screenplay.
According to the complaint, Mann served three notices to New Regency earlier this year seeking to reclaim the copyright to the screenplay and underlying materials for 'Heat,' setting off a dispute over ownership.
Mann's team argues that he wrote the screenplay as an independent author, not as an employee, and that he is exercising his right to reclaim his work under the Copyright Act.
New Regency counters that Mann's termination action is invalid because the screenplay was a 'work made for hire,' and thus cannot be terminated.
The lawsuit also mentions that certain provisions of agreements between Mann and New Regency with Amazon for the upcoming 'Heat 2' prequel depend on the outcome of this litigation.
Mann's representatives stated, 'We will vigorously defend this action and are confident that the courts will vindicate Michael Mann’s statutory rights under the Copyright Act.'
New Regency argues that if the termination notices are given effect, they would strip the company of rights it has held for over three decades, jeopardizing its ability to develop, finance, and license works derived from the screenplay.
The upcoming 'Heat 2' prequel, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Adam Driver, Stephen Graham, and Jason Clarke, is based on Mann's 2022 novel of the same name, which serves as both a prequel and sequel to the original film.
Mann's legal action is significant as it could potentially cloud New Regency's ownership of the original 'Heat' screenplay, affecting future projects and rights.
Mann's representatives emphasized that the filing pertains to his original and personal writing on multiple screenplays during the 1980s, which evolved into the iconic 'Heat.'
What this adds
The dispute centers on whether Mann wrote the screenplay as an independent author or as an employee, which could determine the validity of his termination notices.
The Copyright Act allows authors to terminate assignments of rights after 35 years, which Mann is attempting to exploit.
What's confirmed
- “In addition, certain provisions of the agreements that Mann and Regency each entered into with Amazon with respect to Heat 2 depend on the outcome of this litigation.” Speaking of the much anticipated, Heat 2, the Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Adam Driver, Stephen Graham and Jason Clarke starrer will see Mann directing the prequel flick from his own script.
- “We will vigorously defend this action and are confident that the courts will vindicate Michael Mann’s statutory rights under the Copyright Act,” Mann’s team says.
What's still developing
- Michael Mann won’t start filming Heat 2 until early next year, but things are already heating up legally between the acclaimed director and New Regency when it comes to 1995 crime classic.
- This particular script is based on Mann and Meg Gardiner’s No.
- The first notice sought to terminate all copyright grants for Heat, the lawsuit says, including an alleged 1988 oral agreement from Mann and two companies he controlled.
- Authors are allowed to terminate assignments of rights after 35 years under the Copyright Act.
- Mann’s lawyers intend to fight the lawsuit “vigorously,” his reps said in a statement.
- Michael Mann's own big-screen adaptation of Miami Vice is an unavoidable inclusion, if only because it shows how the same story, same characters, same Miami can carry across the generations.
- Jordan taking over Philip Michael Thomas’s role as Ricardo Tubbs, Miami Vice ’85 will revisit the original series’ mid-1980s heyday, drawing inspiration from its pilot and first season.
- Before Miami Vice, before Manhunter, and well before Heat, Michael Mann made Thief, a film that established many of the crime-sodden preoccupations that would come to define his esteemed movie career.
- It’s been nearly two decades since Michael Mann last brought Miami Vice to the big screen, so it only seems right that we make a timely return to the revered ‘80s franchise With Austin Butler’s stepping into Don Johnson’s white linen suits and Michael B.