Overview
- New Regency filed a lawsuit Friday in federal court in Los Angeles asking a judge to rule that Michael Mann’s three termination notices are null and that the studio retains the copyright to the 1995 Heat screenplay.
- Mann served the termination notices earlier this year seeking to reclaim authorship under the Copyright Act after roughly 40 years and says he will vigorously defend his statutory right to recover the material.
- The core legal fight turns on whether the screenplay was a work made for hire, which cannot be terminated, or was assigned in ways that allow Mann to reclaim rights, with the complaint highlighting an alleged 1988 oral assignment as a central factual dispute.
- Both sides have separate deals with Amazon for Heat 2 and Mann’s representatives say any rights he reclaims would be assigned to Amazon while production scheduled to begin on Jan. 19 is expected to proceed.
- If the court upholds New Regency’s claim the studio could keep clear title to the screenplay; if the court validates Mann’s terminations the ruling could strip Regency’s rights starting in 2028 and complicate financing, licensing and future uses of Heat material.