Overview

• On July 30, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff dismissed with prejudice Shaun Gray’s joint authorship and profit-sharing claims but denied Paramount’s motion to dismiss his copyright infringement allegation.
• Gray alleges he wrote 15 pivotal sequences for the sequel, including the prototype jet speed record opening and a climactic dogfight, after screenwriter Eric Warren Singer and director Joseph Kosinski enlisted his help.
• Paramount argued that standard work-for-hire agreements vest full ownership of the screenplay in the studio and called Gray’s co-ownership assertions a “delusion.”
• The court’s order allows Gray to seek damages under his surviving infringement claim, and Judge Rakoff said a detailed opinion explaining his mixed ruling will issue in due course.
• This dispute follows a 2023 lawsuit by heirs of the journalist whose 1983 article inspired the original Top Gun, underscoring ongoing franchise rights battles.