Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan Faces Trial Over Alleged Copyright Infringement in ‘Servant’

Feature and Cover Filmmaker M Night Shyamalan Faces Trial Over Alleged Copyright Infringement in ‘Servant’

Renowned filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan is embroiled in a legal battle over claims that his Apple TV+ series Servant borrows heavily from an independent film. Italian-born director Francesca Gregorini is suing Shyamalan and Apple for $81 million, alleging that the series appropriates significant elements from her 2013 movie, The Truth About Emanuel, according to Variety.

Gregorini’s attorney, Patrick Arenz, laid out the case in federal court in Riverside, California, presenting the jury with clips from both Servant and The Truth About Emanuel. During his opening statement, Arenz contended that both stories revolve around a delusional mother who treats a doll as if it were a real baby, with a nanny enabling the delusion.

“This is a simple case,” Arenz stated before the jury. “There would be no Servant without Emanuel.”

Shyamalan was present in court, seated behind his defense team, along with producer Taylor Latham and Apple TV+ programming head Matt Cherniss. Tony Basgallop, the British writer credited with creating Servant, joined the defense at their counsel table. Meanwhile, Gregorini sat with her legal team at the plaintiffs’ table.

The defense, led by attorney Brittany Amadi, refuted the allegations. Amadi argued that Basgallop had started developing Servant years before The Truth About Emanuel was released in 2013. She emphasized that neither Shyamalan nor anyone associated with the show had drawn inspiration from Gregorini’s film.

“Ms. Gregorini is seeking a windfall here,” Amadi told the court. “She’s seeking $81 million for work she didn’t do. The truth is the creators of Servant do not owe anything to Ms. Gregorini.”

The legal dispute dates back to January 2020, when Gregorini filed her lawsuit shortly after Servant premiered on Apple TV+. Initially, a federal judge dismissed the case a few months later. However, in 2022, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision, stating that there was a legitimate question about whether the two works are “substantially similar.”

In November, Judge Sunshine Sykes rejected Apple’s motion for summary judgment, ruling that the case should proceed to a jury trial. Now, the fate of the lawsuit hinges on the jury’s determination of whether Servant indeed infringes on The Truth About Emanuel or if the similarities are purely coincidental.

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