'MacGyver' Creator May Sue Over 'MacGruber' Movie

I really don't think there's anything you can litigate here, but it's America, so you know someone will try. That someone is Lee Zlotoff, who created MacGyver, and he's considering a lawsuit to keep MacGruber out of theaters, according to Latino Review. Two problems, as I see it. First, parody has long been upheld by the Supreme Court, even in instances that are clearly for profit. That's called Fair Use, and though it's not infallible, in this instance there's plenty of precedent. Secondly, if Zlotoff was really angry, he should have sued before now because the MacGruber character has been featured on Saturday Night Live for three years, even incorporating the original MacGyver, Richard Dean Anderson, at one point. Zlotoff's lawyer, Paul Mayersohn, may proceed with a copyright infringement suit as well as an unfair competition claim, neither of which the plaintiff has much chance of winning. About the only point in Zlotoff's favor is that he has apparently set up development for a MacGyver movie at New Line. The argument might be that having MacGruber on SNL doesn't impact the movie but a film version does. However, since we're clearly talking about a spoof - and the history of cinema is full of those - I don't think any of that matters. Zlotoff could be hoping to get a little cash out of Relativity, the company producing MacGyver, but as for stopping its release? No way. The movie isn't coming out of nowhere, it's patently a parody of something that was in pop culture for almost 20 years, and Zlotoff should be grateful for the extra attention. Because that's all he's likely to get.

Comments

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I hope that they don't win because the MacGruber movie was just a comedy parody based on the SNL character if anything they should be honored that did this. It more than likely lead to people buying Macgyver dvds getting sold anyway.

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I hope that they don't win because the MacGruber movie was just a comedy parody based on the SNL character if anything they should be honored that did this. It more than likely lead to people buying Macgyver dvds getting sold anyway. watch movies online free