It was only a matter of time before someone in the pornography industry tried to capitalize off of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” the best-selling “Twilight” fanfiction-turned kinky e-book that probably everyone you see on the subway with an e-reader is secretly reading.
Universal Studios bought the film rights to the books, which have sold more than 40 million copies combined, earlier this year, and while we wonder how they plan to make an adaptation that isn’t porn, they are certainly not going to stand for anyone else doing so. Universal has filed a copyright lawsuit against porn production company Smash Pictures for its “Fifty Shades of Grey: a XXX Adaptation.” Smash Pictures has two sequels in production.
Universal argues in the lawsuit that the movie cannot be considered a parody because it takes "exact dialogue, characters, events, story, and style from the 'Fifty Shades' trilogy… It is a rip-off, plain and simple.”
The suit is seeking an injunction, profits from the movies’ sales and unspecified damages.
Read more at Thomson Reuters.
For more on where the law and adult entertainment intersect, see the stories below:
Court revives porn industry’s constitutional challenges of record-keeping requirements
Woman seeks class action status in lawsuit against 5 porn companies
