June 7 (UPI) -- Hollywood studio Paramount is being sued by the family of a writer connected to the first Top Gun film in the 1980s, who argue that they hold a copyright and are owed money for the sequel that's smashing box office records worldwide.
The lawsuit was brought by Shosh and Yuval Yonay, heirs to writer Ehud Yonay whose 1983 California magazine article Top Guns inspired the first film.
The suit says the Yonay family notified Paramount in 2018 that they would reacquire the copyright to the article and intellectual property that spawned Top Gun in 1986. The family argues that the studio did not finish production for Top Gun: Maverick until 2021, well after they reacuired the copyright.
The family is seeking a share of the profits for the new film, which has leveled box office records in the United States and around the world. The movie has so far earned almost $560 million in just over one week of release.
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