<b><i>Online Extra:</b></i> Suit Against Hollywood Producers by 'Lost Boys' Clears Hurdle

Instead, the plaintiffs learned by happenstance in 2013 that 'The Good Lie' had begun filming in Atlanta and that the screenplay included characters and experiences that mirrored their own biographies that they had shared with Nagle. They also eventually learned that the rights to the screenplay had been sold multiple times without their knowledge or consent, according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs' attorney, Jason Graham of Atlanta's Graham & Jensen, called May's ruling 'the difference between being dead on arrival and having your day in court.' The judge, he added, 'ruled basically 95% in our favor,' dismissing only two of the plaintiffs' multiple claims. 'My clients were in tears,' he said.

Lead defense counsel David Grossman of Loeb & Loeb in Los Angeles could not be reached for comment.

The judge let stand claims that the Lost Boys' interviews are subject to copyright separate from the screenplay. The interviews, she said, 'did not consist merely of ideas, facts, and opinion made during a conversation like the interviews by journalists. ' Rather, the interviews were a creative process designed to create material for a screenplay and film. ' Plaintiffs' telling of their personal stories in response to questions designed to elicit material to create a fictional script for a feature film likely includes enough creativity to render the interviews an original work of authorship.'

May also said the Lost Boys have shown at this early stage of the litigation sufficient facts that they have suffered irreparable harm from the alleged misappropriation of their stories to warrant ' if their allegations are proven ' an entry of a permanent injunction against continuing copyright infringement. The judge also allowed claims of unjust enrichment, conversion, breach of contract and fraud to go forward, even though the agreement the Lost Boys claim they reached with the screenwriter and producer Newmyer was oral rather than written.

'The screenplay defendants gained the material needed for Nagle to write the screenplay without having to compensate the Lost Boys or the foundation and without plaintiffs' consent to make a film in the future,' May wrote. 'These representations are sufficient to state a claim for fraud.' While the Hollywood defendants had argued that any oral agreement made in conjunction with the interviews included no specifics on compensation, May held that, at this stage of the litigation, the facts suggest otherwise.

'First, compensation simply could not have been fixed at the time of the agreement, as the parties then acknowledged and acknowledge now. Neither the compensation for the Lost Boys' participation in the interviews and the screenplay, nor the precise terms of their consent to a finalized screenplay, could be fully drawn without the involvement of the filmmakers.' May wrote. 'It is fair to conclude from the complaint that in order to obtain the Lost Boys' consent to produce a film, the screenplay must have fairly reflected their stories and shown the Lost Boys in a positive light, and that the producers must have allowed for adequate compensation.'

The judge also left room for the plaintiffs to revive a declaratory judgment claim for copyright infringement she had dismissed because they did not have copies of their interviews with Nagle and had not registered the copyright ' a requirement before May could rule if the plaintiffs held a joint copyright to 'The Good Lie' screenplay.

May said that if, during the course of the litigation, the plaintiffs are able to secure copies of those interviews and register them with the U.S. Office of Copyright, she will revisit her ruling. Graham said that he and his co-counsel may seek an injunction to force the screenwriter and producers to turn over copies of the Lost Boy interviews.

'The Lost Boys,' named by Sudanese aid workers for the Lost Boys in J.M. Barrie's 'Peter Pan,' were those who fled into the African bush when the Muslim militias of northern Sudan began pillaging and burning the predominantly Christian villages in southern Sudan during 23 years of civil war. Because the militias were killing men and boys and enslaving women and girls, the boys were ordered by their families to flee, according to the suit, which recounts many of the personal stories of the plaintiffs that they say they recounted to Nagle and that she adapted for her screenplay.

The boys banded together in the wilderness and formed their own loosely knit hierarchies. Children as young as 10 became tribal elders, and boys as young as 7 parented even younger children, overcoming starvation, dehydration and wild animal attacks. More than 26,000 were forced by violence from their villages, according to the suit. Thousands were eventually granted entry into the United States.

According to the suit, during a meeting in April 2013 after filming was underway, representatives from Imagine Entertainment and another defendant, Black Label Media, confirmed that 'The Good Lie' screenplay had been based on the Lost Boys' interviews and life stories and that they should be compensated. At that time, production company representatives promised to make an unspecified donation to the Foundation for Lost Boys and Girls, according to the suit. They later offered $1 million to resolve the dispute, but that offer was soon withdrawn, according to the complaint.

'–'R. Robin McDonald, Daily Report