Lionsgate and Joss Whedon Face $10M Copyright Suit Over “The Cabin in the Woods”

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Peter Gallagher, not the actor but an author of a 2006 novel, has filed a lawsuit against Lionsgate and Joss Whedon who produced and co-wrote the 2012 horror movie “The Cabin in the Woods” with Drew Goddard who was also named in the suit.

Gallagher in the complaint alleges that Whedon and Goddard stole the idea, plots, characters, and more from his novel “The Little White Trip: A Night in the Pines” without his consent in.  According to Gallagher, he registered the book with the Writers Guild of America in 2007, and a total of 7,5000 copies of the book were published.

Gallagher claims that

“[c]omparing the Book to the Film, the plots, stories, characters, sequence of events, themes, dialogue, and incidents portrayed in the two works are fictional and, in many respects, the elements in the two works are virtually identical.”

 

For example, Gallagher argues that “[l]ike the book, ‘Cabin in the Woods’ tells the story of five friends (three guys and two girls) between the ages of 17 and 22 who take a trip to a remote cabin in the woods. The cabin’s previous inhabitants were murdered by the father of the family, who returns to terrorize the group of friends.”  He even accuses Whedon and Goddard for using similar names for the characters.  In the book, the two female characters are named Julie and Dura whereas in the movie they are called Jules and Dana.

 

Gallagher is seeking $10 million in damages.

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