Godzilla Sues The Godzilla Of Copyright Trolls, Voltage Pictures, For Copyright Infringement

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I can't help but recall the copyright troll who sued DU, as well as everyone else he could get find.



Godzilla Sues The Godzilla Of Copyright Trolls, Voltage Pictures, For Copyright Infringement

Technology
By Techdirt
at 9:04 AM

Every so often there are lawsuits where we note that both parties have a long history of doing the sort of thing that gets them written about on Techdirt in less-than-positive ways. Here’s another one of those situations. Voltage Pictures is a well known copyright trolling firm, which is its side business along with producing some highly acclaimed movies. Voltage has gone on quite a rampage trying to shake down people all around the globe. The company’s boss, Nicolas Chartier, tends to take a rather black and white view of the situation. Back when he first started shaking people down, someone sent him a friendly email noting (accurately) that going the copyright trolling route might hurt Voltage’s reputation. Rather than considering the message, Chartier turned around and called the helpful emailer a “moron” and a “thief.” This is someone who has quite a strong view on what he believes is his “property.”

So it seems rather fascinating to hear that Toho is suing Voltage for copyright infringement, claiming that a new movie that it’s producing, Colossal, infringes on its copyright on Godzilla. The movie was just announced last week, and the Hollywood Reporter described it this way:

In the movie — described as Transformers versus Adaptation and Godzilla meets Being John Malkovich; Hathaway will play Gloria, an ordinary woman who, after losing her job and her fiancé, decides to leave her life in New York to move back to her hometown.

But when news reports surface that a giant lizard is destroying the city of Tokyo, Gloria gradually comes to realize that she is strangely connected to these far-off events via the power of her mind. In order to prevent further destruction, Gloria needs to determine why her seemingly insignificant existence has such a colossal effect on the fate of the world.

Right. So, you can see why Toho might be mad, but Toho also has a long and storied history of suing basically anyone they think might be doing anything even loosely connected to Godzilla. It once went after Comcast for having a godzilla-like monster in a marketing campaign and a small mobile app firm for creating a silly game called Fingerzilla.

Dallas Buyers Club firm sued for Godzilla copyright infringement

‘Godzilla’ Strikes Cannes As Copyright Holder Sues Voltage Over Anne Hathaway Pic For Sale At Festival

[exboyfil]

1. I am still waiting for Tezuka to sue Disney

for The Lion King (an utter rip off of Kimba the White Lion). Even some early Lion King had a white lion cub until the Disney lawyers pointed out that even they are not that good.

[jberryhill]

2. Lion King was a blatant ripoff of Kimba

I was a Kimba fan as a kid and when that movie came out I assumed there was some sort of licensing arrangement. I was shocked to find out there wasn't one.