Parody is perfectly legal and you don’t have to pay your target for the right (see also: Seltzer, Friedberg), but tell that to a lawyer who smells money. He’s liable to spit a bilious mixture of semi-digested food on your face like a llama. Which is to say, the MacGuyver creator says he’s considering suing over MacGruber.
Lee Zlotoff, who created MacGuyver, retained the right to make a movie based on the show. THR reported last March that New Line is developing a “MacGyver” movie, with Zlotoff co-producing. Months later, THR reported that Relativity Media was moving forward with “MacGruber.”
The “MacGruber” movie didn’t sit well with Zlotoff, whose attorney began sending cease-and-desist letters .
“We feel they’re infringing our rights,” Zlotoff lawyer Paul Mayersohn told us Tuesday. As the film’s April 23 release date approaches, Mayersohn says he’s meeting with litigators to determine a course of action, which might include filing a copyright and/or trademark lawsuit and attempting to get an injunction against the film’s release. [THR]
…And/or it might include reading up on “Fair Use” and f*cking off. I recommend MacGruber’s execs do what I do whenever I get served a cease-and-desist letter. Just put your hand on the lawyer’s shoulder, rub your chin and say “Hmm, that’s very interesting…” and then shove him into your badger-filled crawl space. Another fine closing argument indeed, Counselor Badger.
