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Was The Idea For 'The Unborn' Borrowed From The 1990 Novel 'Transfers'? You Be The Judge!

In a strange turn of events, Rogue Pictures, a divion of Relativity Media, may soon be headed to a courtroom near you.

It was reported earlier today by The Hollywood Reporter that the idea behind the 2009 film The Unborn was allegedly lifting from a novel published in 1990 by Erna Sega under the pseudonym Erna Olinger nearly two decades earlier.



The claim was made Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court by a relative of the deceased Erna Segal who passed away in 2003.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff's novel entitled Transfers is about a young woman who is haunted by the spirit of her dead twin ster, so much so that it leads to a facial abnormality that caused the main character to seek psychiatric treatment. The character undergoes an exorcism, which leads to a colossal and exhausting fight with the dead twin.

The book earned a copyright in 2005 and was allegedly submitted to Pat Dollard, a partner at Relativity at that time. Segal's heir claims to have had conversations with Dollard but eventually all talks broke off.

Upon viewing the film, the plaintiff noticed that several elements which were included in the film were conderably milar to elements which were contained in the novel and concluded that David Goyer, the director and writer of The Unborn, had access to and used a substantial amount of ideas contained in the book.

The key complaints listed include various milarities in theme, plot, characters and sequence of events. It is now key for to the plaintiff to provide enough evidence to prove that not only was there was an actual agreement made between both parties, but it would also need to confirm that if any of the ideas were obtained from the novel at a later date, then compensation would be awarded.

The plaintiff doesn't claim that copyright infringement occured, but rather a breach of an implied contract between both parties occured. Damages are said to to be in excess of $1 million. The plaintiff is also seeking an accounting and full credit.

Relativity hasn't responded yet to requests for comment.

Source:THR
Anonymous Wednesday 1/11/2012 at 02:21 AM | 89276
having been a former employee of Relativity, and knowing some of their buness practices, all I can do is laugh MANIACALLY!!!

BWAHAHAHAHAHA
Matt_Molgaard Wednesday 1/11/2012 at 02:44 AM | 89277