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Los Angeles - Director Steven Spielberg and his DreamWorks movie studio have won the dismissal of a copyright infringement lawsuit on Tuesday that claimed their 2007 thriller Disturbia stole the plot of Alfred Hitchcock's film Rear Window.
The Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust, which owns the rights to the 1942 Cornell Woolrich short story Rear Window, sued Spielberg, DreamWorks and distributors Paramount Pictures in 2008.
Lawyers for the Trust left by the late Hollywood producer Abend claimed Hitchcock had properly obtained the right to turn the Woolrich story into his 1954 classic Rear Window. But DreamWorks had not received such permission when making Disturbia.
Both movies are murder mysteries featuring a man staring from his window at a neighbour.
A New York federal judge ruled on Tuesday that although there were some similarities between the 1942 book, the Hitchcock movie and Disturbia, none of them were actionable under US copyright law.
"The main plots are similar only at a high, un-protectable level of generality," New York District Court judge Laura Taylor Swan wrote in the ruling that dismissed the complaint.
"Where Disturbia is rife with sub-plots, the short story has none. The setting and mood of the short story are static and tense, whereas the setting and mood of Disturbia are more dynamic and peppered with humour and teen romance," the judge added.
Disturbia, which starred Shia LaBeouf, made $117m at worldwide box offices.
The Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust, which owns the rights to the 1942 Cornell Woolrich short story Rear Window, sued Spielberg, DreamWorks and distributors Paramount Pictures in 2008.
Lawyers for the Trust left by the late Hollywood producer Abend claimed Hitchcock had properly obtained the right to turn the Woolrich story into his 1954 classic Rear Window. But DreamWorks had not received such permission when making Disturbia.
Both movies are murder mysteries featuring a man staring from his window at a neighbour.
A New York federal judge ruled on Tuesday that although there were some similarities between the 1942 book, the Hitchcock movie and Disturbia, none of them were actionable under US copyright law.
"The main plots are similar only at a high, un-protectable level of generality," New York District Court judge Laura Taylor Swan wrote in the ruling that dismissed the complaint.
"Where Disturbia is rife with sub-plots, the short story has none. The setting and mood of the short story are static and tense, whereas the setting and mood of Disturbia are more dynamic and peppered with humour and teen romance," the judge added.
Disturbia, which starred Shia LaBeouf, made $117m at worldwide box offices.
