The family of Ehud Yonay, an Israeli journalist and writer who wrote the story that inspired the 1986 "Top Gun" film, is suing Paramount, producers of the successful sequel.
The family filed their suit in Los Angeles against Paramount Pictures, following the release of "Top Gun: Maverick", claiming copyright infringement.
The lawsuit, in the Los Angeles federal court, claims that Paramount did not re-acquire the rights to the 1983 Top Guns article from Yonay's family before releasing the sequel.
Shosh, Yonay's widow, and his son Yuval are seeking compensation and part of the profits from "Top Gun: Maverick", and to stop the distribution of the film or other sequels of it.
Top Gun: Maverick
"These accusations are completely baseless and we will defend ourselves vigorously," Paramount said in response.
Since its release, the sequel starring Tom Cruise received positive reviews, and box office success grossing $548.6 million worldwide in the first 10 days, making it the most profitable among Tom Cruz's films.
The lawsuit claims that Paramount acquired the exclusive rights to Yonay's article before the 1986 "Top Gun" film was released and gave on screen credit to Yonay.
But this time, the family claims, the studio overtly ignored them and that the rights to the article were returned to them in 2020. Paramount, the suit says, was in violation of Federal copyright laws.
They also claim to have sent Paramount a letter on the 11th of May and in response, the studio rejected their assertion that the script to their production, was based on the article written 39 years ago.
Paramount also claimed that in January 2020, when the rights expired, the film was near completion - a claim the family disputes. They assert the film was only completed in May of 2021.