how many IDEAS has HOLLYWOOD STOLEN? - Flash of Genius (2008) Discussion

[–] grajohn 16 years ago

I was thinking the same thing.I bet we
will not be seeing any movies
based on that.Hollywood has stolen many
peoples ideas over the years and got away
with it

reply

[–] kapnkirk 16 years ago

I remember seeing that Billy Wilder plagiarized the idea for his film Ace In The Hole. I think the guy took them to the court too. Apparently it was based on a true incident and he went to Wilder's scretary and told her the whole story.

reply

[–] srnumber9 16 years ago

I think you guys should go easy on Hollywood. After all, once you've re-made and sequelized every movie ever made, and then made a movie out of every TV show ever created you either have to steal ideas or you know..."think" of stuff, and that's hard!

..after all, isn't stealing an idea just the same as...you know...re-making a movie that doesn't exist yet? When you look at it that way it's not such a big deal!

Well, give 'em credit this once: "Flash of Genius" is the first movie I ever heard of based on a patent infringement suit.

(I can't wait for the remake!)

reply

[–] Director-21 15 years ago

That depends on who you are talking about. Hollywood isn't one entity. The big studio heads have screwed plenty of artists and film makers, who's that Hollywood screwing itself, or Hollywood filmmakers getting screwed by big business. The author of the novel "Forrest Gump" was paid a fee upfront and also was promised a cut of the film's profits. He's never gotten any of that because according to their shady accounting practices one of the biggest hits of 1994 still hasn't turned a profit.

I've also heard of people trying to fleece media creators out of money with ridiculous intellectual property claims. I heard that some flaming homo tried to sue the producers of "Will & Grace" for a royalty for every episode of the show that Jack appeared in (BTW he's a main character) because this guy is a flaming homo and he used to be friends with the show's creator so clearly the whole character was based on him. Where should that end, can Geraldo sue anyone who depicts a sleazy tabloid news reporter?

reply

[–] Shyturtle 15 years ago

DTS (DIGITAL THEATER SYSTEM) is an "enhanced copy" of a French patent called LC Concept, first used in 1990 for the movie Cyrano de Bergerac which received the best sound award at the César Awards in 1991.

reply

[–] Huckleberry99 15 years ago

Here Here OP~ They have a lot of skeletons in their closets, don't they. I understand they have pay off accounts/departments to settle plagarism suits, for the brave, but eventually maligned plaintiffs.

reply

[–] PaigeGirl 15 years ago

To the OP: The point is moot. The movie is not about HOLLYWOOD. It's about FORD.

Meow.
I just love kitties!

reply

[–] XuDai 15 years ago

how many IDEAS has HOLLYWOOD STOLEN?

Not as many as foreign studios have stolen FROM Hollywood. I mean just look at the clones of American reality shows around the world, HAHAH. America practically invented the Televsion & the art of film-making, so it does give them the right to take back what is rightfully theirs.

reply

[–] imdb-ary 13 years ago

Not as many as foreign studios have stolen FROM Hollywood. I mean just look at the clones of American reality shows around the world, HAHAH. America practically invented the Televsion & the art of film-making, so it does give them the right to take back what is rightfully theirs.

I have to say this is blatantly untrue. ALL of those crappy big brother/idol shows have international licensing deals. Hollywood got paid every cent.

reply

[–] MuchToBeGratefulFor 14 years ago

a pretty irrelevant topic for this board.

You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi

reply

[–] grolaw 14 years ago

You can't patent an idea. You can't copyright an idea. It must be "reduced to practice" to be afforded protection. That means a working invention or a written treatment (if not an entire script).

See, Coming to America http://pro.imdb.com/title/tt0094898/trivia

reply

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]