Steven Spielberg Sued For Allegedly Ripping Off Hitchcock

NEW YORK — A lawsuit claims Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures Corp. ripped off "Rear Window" when they made the movie "Disturbia."

The 2007 thriller "Disturbia" stars Shia LaBeouf as a kid who spies on neighbors, including a man he suspects is a serial killer.

The copyright infringement lawsuit, filed Monday in Manhattan, says "Disturbia" copied a short story Cornell Woolrich wrote in 1942 and the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock movie that starred James Stewart and Grace Kelly and was based on the story.

Woolrich died in 1968. The rights to "Rear Window" were sold to Sheldon Abend, who died in 2003. His estate brought the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.

Representatives for Spielberg, DreamWorks and Paramount said they don't comment on pending litigation.

Comments

[RGKahn]

Rear Window was release 54 years ago, 1954, It was directed by Alfred Hitchcock Writers:Cornell Woolrich (short story "It Had to be Murder") John Michael Hayes (screenplay). In 1998 it was remade as a TV movie directed by Jeff Bleckner and the following Writers (WGA):Cornell Woolrich (story) Eric Overmyer (teleplay. When does a copyright end? How long can a family make money off the work of family members separated by almost three generations.

[NicoleAnon]

The fact is that people still have to get copyright permission if they want to use songs in their movies that were released even before that and Speilberg knows exactly how it works in his business.

It just seems as though stealing is so common now that people think it's normal. We have a VP candidate who once gave a speech where he stole his life story from a politician in England and on the bestseller list is a cookbook from a woman who stole all the recipies from someone else and we have writers who lie about their lives in memoirs so stealing is almost considered normal behavior now.

[sunnyokanagan]

"It just seems as though stealing is so common now that people think it's normal."

Well it IS normal. Look at all the songs the Republicans stole for use in their campaigns. I mean, those people ARE the arbiters of what is normal and acceptable, aren't they!?

[Eric8869]

stealing is stealing - don't try to justify it

[jukesgrrl]

Heirs of the women who wrote "Happy Birthday" still get paid every time that is sung in a movie or on TV. Why should Rear Window be afforded less protection?

[3fingerbrown]

"How long can a family make money off the work of family members separated by almost three generations."

I invite anyone named Rockefeller, duPont, Kennedy, Vanderbilt, or Astor to answer this question.

[luckyoldson]

I'm amazed it's taken this long, it is a direct ripoff.

Waiting to see how much it made perhaps?

[NicoleAnon]

They won't be able to win this lawsuit though. And please make sure you buy tickets in advance for my movie coming out next month. It's called "Jaws" and it's about this really scary shark...hold on...didn't I make that movie...now I'm stealing from myself!

[NicoleAnon]

But I don't blame him - it must be hard to be the highest paid director in Hollywood right now. That is very stressful - how do you expect him to have time to think about original ideas when it's so much easier to just steal them? He has awards ceremonies to attend, his mansion is being redecorated, he is buying a new private plane - he is a very busy person and writing original screenplays is hard...it's very hard.

[JoeBlough]

But he's a maverick, so it's O.K.

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

And a POW...