Paramount Wins Top Gun: Maverick Lawsuit Four Years Later

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After several years, Paramount has successfully concluded its legal battle regarding Top Gun: Maverick. The film was the highly anticipated sequel to the 1986 classic Top Gun, which launched Tom Cruise and the late Val Kilmer to stardom and became a defining movie of the 80s. Both actors returned for Top Gun: Maverick, joined by new cast members and featuring modern visual effects.

The film’s long wait was worth it, as it became one of the biggest box office hits of 2022. It earned almost $1.5 billion globally, second only to Avatar: The Way of Water, which made $2.3 billion. Not only was Top Gun: Maverick a financial success, but critics also loved it, praising its impressive visuals and engaging story.

According to Deadline, Paramount has successfully defended its film Top Gun: Maverick in a copyright lawsuit. The court ruled that the film isn’t close enough to the source material of the original Top Gun to be considered a copyright infringement.

Judge Eric D. Miller shared these thoughts in a statement filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision was made by a three-judge panel consisting of Judges Miller, Andrew D. Hurwitz, and Jennifer Sung. Judge Miller’s complete statement is included below.

The main issue is whether the phrase in Maverick closely resembles the original phrase in Top Gun, and it doesn’t.

The court agreed with the lower court’s decision that the film Top Gun and the work in question, Maverick, weren’t substantially similar in terms of original creative elements. Because of this, the plaintiffs – those claiming copyright infringement – didn’t provide enough evidence to suggest a legal case could be made. The court found a lack of resemblance in the parts of the work that could be protected by copyright, and the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that they had uniquely chosen and arranged those elements in a way that deserved protection.

In May 1983, California magazine published an article titled “Top Guns” by Ehud Yonay. The article detailed the lives and training of U.S. Navy fighter pilots. Unfortunately, California magazine is no longer published, having closed down in 1991.

Yonay later sold his story ideas to filmmakers who went on to create Top Gun. He received credit as a source of inspiration for the iconic 1980s movie and was paid for the rights to his work.

Yonay passed away in 2012, but in June 2022, his son and widow claimed that Paramount had violated copyright law regarding his original story. They stated that Paramount never obtained a new license and that the rights to the article reverted to the Yonay family in 2020.

This latest ruling follows an initial dismissal of the copyright lawsuit in April 2024. The court previously decided that the film Maverick wasn’t similar enough to “Top Gun” to justify legal action.

The recent court decision completely supports the earlier ruling. Paramount has successfully concluded this four-year legal fight, and it appears the outcome was justified. Ultimately, Top Gun: Maverick drew more inspiration from the characters in the original film than from the source article by Yonay.

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2026-01-04 19:53