The THR,Esq. blog of The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that lawyers for MacGyver creator, Lee Zlotoff, have sent cease-and-desist letters to Relativity Media, the studio that produced the “MacGruber” film.
Paul Mayersohn, a lawyer for Mr. Zlotoff, told The Hollywood Reporter, “We feel they’re infringing our rights.” Mr. Mayersohn added that he’s meeting with litigators to determine a course of action, which might include filing a copyright and/or trademark lawsuit and attempting to get an injunction against the film’s release.
Other legal experts told the publication that the MacGruber film may be protected under free speech and fair use laws.
The article also speculates that this case has an interesting twist, because both films are being developed simultaneously with the parody being set to release before the original giving rise to the question of whether the parody could impact the market for the original, which is one of the considerations for fair use. Lee Zlotoff’s lawyer indicated that an unfair competition claim could also be part of their lawsuit.
This also revives hope that the MacGyver movie is still being worked on and hasn’t been forgotten as many fans had feared.
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