Who owns the legal rights to any given IP can be a very thorny topic, especially for classic films. The latest film to get its legal ownership all sorted out in a courtroom is Hellraiser, the 1987 horror production written and directed by Clive Barker. The dispute basically came down to which country’s laws applied to the ownership of the film, and just recently Barker’s attorney filed papers that confirm a settlement has been reached between him and original production company.
According to the Copyright Act of 1976 authors may recapture the rights to their works after waiting a set amount of time and providing appropriate notice. Barker followed these requirements, but Larry Kuppin, who had purchased the company that released the film, said that he could not recapture the rights. Kuppin argued that the terms of the agreement were to be interpreted under U.K. contract law, and therefore the Copyright Act of 1976 did not apply to the situation.
In that moment it seemed that the courts were primed to rule on the tricky subject of what happens when the rights to an IP were originally determined on foreign soil. However, the settlement reached by Barker and the production company seems to mean that no such determination will take place after all, and both parties will walk away with something. Barker will now present the judge with a proposed consent judgement that, if approved, means he will regain the U.S. rights to the film on December 19, 2021. As of yet there has been no official statement about who will be claiming the international rights.
While it is not currently clear what Clive Barker intends to do with the franchise, or why in particular he wanted to reclaim the rights, this could have significant impacts for other Hellraiser projects. A Hellraiser reboot is already in the works, as is an HBO show. If Barker does regain the rights then these projects will either need to be finished before he officially claims them, or will have to seek his approval, as will any projects produced afterward using the license.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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