Joe Quirk wrote an offbeat suspense novel in 1998, The Ultimate Rush, about a rollerblading courier in the Bay Area who becomes entangled with the Chinese mafia. Warner Bros. optioned the story, and Quirk was signed to the prestigious CAA agency, but the push to a screen adaptation never came – at least until last summer.
The author's former literary agent came across a New York City location shoot for a Joseph Gordon-Levitt and David Koepp vehicle, Premium Rush. Sony Pictures is distributing the movie for the Spider-Man writer. When Quirk caught wind of the news, he nabbed a copy of the script and is insisting that Sony stole his film – right down to the nearly identical title. He filed a lawsuit this month, but the practically unemployed writer had to speak to 50 lawyers before anyone would take his case. There's a reason for that. According to The Bay Citizen:
"'In the last 15 to 20 years, there have been virtually no success stories when it comes to plaintiffs suing major studios for copyright infringement,' said Aaron Moss, a Los Angeles intellectual-property lawyer who has represented writers in the past, but hasn’t taken such a case in a decade because of the slim chances of success. Another intellectual-property lawyer in Los Angeles, John Marder, agreed with Mr. Moss, saying, 'The courts have made it very onerous' to win a copyright case."
You can check out a copy of Quirk's legal complaint over here for the nitty gritty/law porn. A studio spokesman believes Quirk's claim "lacks merit" and is a bunch of "nonsense." Does the author have a case and stand a chance against the studio giant, or do you see no problem with Sony's actions?
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