What am I not getting about the Friday the 13th situation?

[Desirable Industrial Unit]

As everyone who is interested in this sort of thing is probably aware by now, the screenwriter of the first Friday the 13th film is suing the various rights-owners in an attempt to get the the whole thing turned over to him.  This means that tools need to be downed until it's all settled.  A potential new film is now off the cards, and the game that came out at the end of last year won't be allowed to add any new content until it's settled.  They've already flat-out said there'll never be any new content, because they can't hang around for a decision.

What I'm not getting is:  Victor Miller wrote Friday the 13th.  The crux of what will happen about his claim is whether he was a 'writer for hire' or someone who originated the story.  Surely that doesn't matter in this case, though?  Friday the 13th, as a series, is about big old lumbering Jason, and that has exactly dick all to do with the first film.

I'm all for writers getting paid properly, but this guy doesn't seem to have much of a claim to the franchise.  Unless I've missed something?

[bgmnts]

Does he claim to own the title of Friday the 13th? If so he should be paid right?

He definitely cant be paid off for hockey mask Jason Vorhees as yes he isnt even in the film.

[lipsink]

Yeah, but he created the character 'Jason Vorhees'. Sure, the hockey mask came later but he created the actual character.

[Big Mclargehuge]

As everyone who is interested in this sort of thing is probably aware by now, the screenwriter of the first Friday the 13th film is suing the various rights-owners in an attempt to get the the whole thing turned over to him.  This means that tools need to be downed until it's all settled.  A potential new film is now off the cards, and the game that came out at the end of last year won't be allowed to add any new content until it's settled.  They've already flat-out said there'll never be any new content, because they can't hang around for a decision.

What I'm not getting is:  Victor Miller wrote Friday the 13th.  The crux of what will happen about his claim is whether he was a 'writer for hire' or someone who originated the story.  Surely that doesn't matter in this case, though?  Friday the 13th, as a series, is about big old lumbering Jason, and that has exactly dick all to do with the first film.

I'm all for writers getting paid properly, but this guy doesn't seem to have much of a claim to the franchise.  Unless I've missed something?

Ahh goddamnit I love the F13 game...I was waiting for "Spaceson" from Jason X :(

I suppose his arguement is that without the first film the other 10 or so of them couldnt have happened (Nor could the 2-3 porn parodies but thats neither here nor there) however it could be counter argued that the first film is so loosely tied to the other films that had the first one never happened the other films probably would have in various knock off or slightly different forms...

in a way im kind of glad F13 has been grounded. ever since the rights changed hands at the end of part 8 every F13 film to come out (With maybe the exception of Freddy Vs Jason) has been a massive bag of wank. with "Jason goes to hell" holding a special place in my heart as one of the worst mainstream horror films i've ever seen. There could be a good F13 movie...but it needs to not be in the hands of a studio who see it as a cow ready to be milked...

[Famous Mortimer]

Giving anyone who cares the opportunity to stick the boot in, I am a large and unapologetic fan of Jason X, which is the best comedy-slasher film ever.

One would assume some copyright troll lawyer got hold of the writer and offered to go through all his papers for free, and Sean Cunningham (who Gene Siskel called "one of the most despicable creatures ever to infest the movie business") didn't do all the contracts he was supposed to as he was a cheap bastard. I hope the writer wins.

[bgmnts]

Giving anyone who cares the opportunity to stick the boot in, I am a large and unapologetic fan of Jason X, which is the best comedy-slasher film ever.

If Jason X is the 'Jason in Space' where he fights a sexy robot lady then yes! It's the best in the series.

[Brundle-Fly]

Ahh goddamnit I love the F13 game...I was waiting for "Spaceson" from Jason X :(

Is F13 game good then? I saw it a couple of days ago in my local CEX and nearly bought it. Had a look today. Gone. Bah!

[Mini]

Saw this yesterday, Jason on Arsenio to promote Jason Takes Manhattan. I'm sure it was a hilarious idea on paper. https://twitter.com/FANGORIA/status/1006991483457671168

[Ignatius_S]

On Resetera thread about how there isn't going to be anymore DLC for the game, the OP had the following article, which explained the lawsuit:

http://www.fridaythe13thfranchise.com/2016/08/why-horror-inc-and-victor-miller-are.html

It's quite an old article, but worth a read.

[New Jack]

Is F13 game good then? I saw it a couple of days ago in my local CEX and nearly bought it. Had a look today. Gone. Bah!

It's quite fun, if you like the series, the music and general aesthetic is good, you can be any Jason, you have different finishers that sort of reminds me of a wrestling game. Being a counsellor is either fun or not depending on if you like hide and seek, though you can do minor things to fight back. And now it has bots so you can just be Jason!

[Big Mclargehuge]

Is F13 game good then? I saw it a couple of days ago in my local CEX and nearly bought it. Had a look today. Gone. Bah!

If you can get it cheap it's pretty good. Can be a bit repetative but if you like the franchise then you'll definitely kill at least a couple of weeks on it. the people who made it are hardcore fans who tried to make it feel as much like a movie as possible. plus its fun to hear kids screaming when your playing as jason just murderin them all up xD

[Desirable Industrial Unit]

On Resetera thread about how there isn't going to be anymore DLC for the game, the OP had the following article, which explained the lawsuit:

http://www.fridaythe13thfranchise.com/2016/08/why-horror-inc-and-victor-miller-are.html

It's quite an old article, but worth a read.

Given the deadlines involved it does also clarify why things are kicking off *now*.

It seems to be a case of Victor Miller exercising a right that he has and seeing what happens, which is obviously not how he's being painted by some of the 'fandom'.  I think he's on very shaky ground, although IANAL and all that - the title famously existed before he was onboard, and his best claim for the series after the first film is a character name, not the character itself.  This seems to be one of those situations in which nobody will really win anything, but a load of people will lose their jobs while it gets resolved.

The free Friday the 13th puzzle game on Steam is well worth checking out as a brief distraction, by the way.  It's also had to cease updates, but I'm not sure how much more they had planned for it.

Oh, and Jason X is the best film in the series since part V (2,4,3,5,X,6,1,8,7 and they never made that Goes to Hell bullshit, they just never).

[St_Eddie]

Given the deadlines involved it does also clarify why things are kicking off *now*.

It seems to be a case of Victor Miller exercising a right that he has and seeing what happens, which is obviously not how he's being painted by some of the 'fandom'...

There's a insightful article about that here.