Have you ever noticed all of those low-budget knockoffs of big-budget blockbusters at the video store? Transmorphers, The Terminators, Battle Of Los Angeles, and Titanic II are just a few of the most obvious straight-to-DVD ripoffs that you may have seen in the $5 movie bin at Walmart.
They are all from a production company called The Asylum (which churned out THIS mega masterpiece) and Universal has finally had enough of the company capitalizing on its original ideas!
The studio behind Battleship has filed a lawsuit against The Asylum because of its most recent DVD release, American Battleship, which stars Carl Weathers and Mario Van Peebles. Universal is claiming that the smaller competitor is piggybacking off of its hard work and $30 million marketing campaign.
Not only does Asylum rip off the Universal movie’s plot and poster artwork, it doesn’t have the rights to the board game!
We’re not sure of the legal logistics behind the production company’s strategy — consisting of selling products that are unaffiliated, but recognizably similar to bigger budget titles — however, Universal wants unspecified damages.
Do U think Asylum has a right to keep producing and distributing these “mockbusters” or is Universal about to bankrupt the small company?
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