Top Gun: Maverick hit with copyright lawsuit amid box office success

As Top Gun: Maverick continues to soar at the box office, legal troubles await Paramount on the tarmac.

The studio behind the sequel is being sued for copyright infringement by the family

of the author whose article inspired the original film, 1986's Top Gun.

Late writer Ehud Yonay's widow and son, Shosh and Yuval Yonay, are accusing Paramount

of failing to reacquire rights to the article before releasing the "derivative" sequel.

the plaintiffs allege that Paramount completed Top Gun: Maverick in May 2021

over a year after the copyright to the story had "reverted" back to them under the Copyright Act in January 2020.

Paramount deliberately ignored this, thumbing its nose at the statute," reads the lawsuit, which was obtained and shared in full

Paramount argued that Maverick was "sufficiently completed" by the effective termination date of Jan.