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Copyright Attorney Fees Ruling in Friday the 13th Termination Case

By Mason Lawlor
November 01, 2022

The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut granted Friday the 13th screenwriter Victor Miller partial attorney fees totaling more than $886,564, in his long-running fight against the 1980 horror film's production outfit Manny Co. over proceeds from the film. Horror Inc. v. Miller, 3:16-cv-1442 (D.Conn. 2022).

Miller, hired to write the screenplay in 1979, was paid $9,282 for his work. A landmark film of the slasher genre, Friday the 13th went on to earn "tens of millions of dollars for Manny and its successors, including Horror Inc.," Connecticut federal District Judge Stefan R. Underhill noted.

District Judge Underhill had granted Miller, 81, summary judgment in a 2016 lawsuit filed against Miller by Manny. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld that ruling, allowing Miller to reclaim authorship rights for his work. Horror Inc. v. Miller, 15 F.4th 232 (2d Cir. 2021).

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