美国国家公共电台 NPR--'Top Gun: Maverick' faces a copyright infringement lawsuit

'Top Gun: Maverick¹' faces a copyright infringement² lawsuit³

Transcript⁴

"Top Gun: Maverick" has raked in more than half a billion dollars at box offices worldwide. But behind the scenes, there's some litigation brewing⁵ over the movie.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A member of my family has now seen "Top Gun: Maverick" twice. She wasn't alive for the release of the original "Top Gun," but went with a friend to the new one, then went with another friend. And along the way, the Tom Cruise sequel has now earned half a billion dollars. Now comes the question of who deserves a slice of the profit. A magazine story inspired the original "Top Gun," and the author's family is suing. Here's NPR's Joe Hernandez.

JOE HERNANDEZ, BYLINE⁶: In 1983, Ehud Yonay wrote an article for California magazine called "Top Guns," a character-driven tale of two ambitious Navy fighter pilots. Paramount⁷ Pictures bought up the film rights, and three years later, in 1986, "Top Gun" came out. Now Yonay's family say they own the copyright to the story and that Paramount is infringing⁸ on it.

MARC TOBEROFF: They feel it's unfair. The family is the widow and son of the author, couldn't be nicer.

HERNANDEZ: That's Marc Toberoff, the family's attorney. He says the law allows creators to recover the copyright to their work after 35 years to...

TOBEROFF: Financially benefit from their creation, to participate in some meaningful way in the fruits of their labor⁹.

HERNANDEZ: But the lawsuit claims Paramount didn't re-acquire the film rights to the story before releasing "Top Gun: Maverick."

TOBEROFF: They were silent. They did not even attempt, for any sum of money, to relicense the rights of the story.

HERNANDEZ: In a statement to NPR, Paramount said, quote, "these claims are without merit, and we will defend ourselves vigorously." The studio also said in response to a cease-and-desist letter sent by the family that "Top Gun: Maverick" isn't obviously derivative¹⁰ of the magazine story and that the film was sufficiently¹¹ completed before the copyright switched over. The Yonays dispute both of those claims. Which of those arguments will fly is now up to the court.

Joe Hernandez, NPR News.

1 maverick   

adj.特立独行的；不遵守传统的；n.持异议者，自行其是者

参考例句：

• He's a maverick.He has his own way of thinking about things.他是个特异独行的人。对事情有自己的看法。
• You're a maverick and you'll try anything.你是个爱自行其是的人，样样事情都要尝试一下。

2 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯

3 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

4 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

5 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

8 infringing   

v.违反（规章等）( infringe的现在分词 )；侵犯（某人的权利）；侵害（某人的自由、权益等）

参考例句：

• The material can be copied without infringing copyright. 这份材料可以复制，不会侵犯版权。
• The media is accused of infringing on people's privacy. 人们指责媒体侵犯了大家的隐私。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 derivative   

n.派(衍)生物；adj.非独创性的，模仿他人的

参考例句：

• His paintings are really quite derivative.他的画实在没有创意。
• Derivative works are far more complicated.派生作品更加复杂。

11 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。