So I guess those cell blocks held zombies, chainsaw murders and attorneys. Lions Gate and the producers behind the movie weren’t expecting a lawsuit some three years after the release of Cabin in the Woods but the judge has thrown out the $10 million lawsuit.

Cabin in the Woods was Drew Goddard’s first job directing a script he co-wrote with Avengers director, Joss Whedon. The story seems to tell the simple tale of of group of friends heading to a weekend retreat when they mistakenly awaken a zombie family but the plot twists then turn the movie into something totally unexpected. The release of the movie turned into a story itself. While it was made in 2009, the movie was held back from release due to bankruptcy filings by MGM and then a conversion to 3-D. The film was finally released by Lions Gate on April 13, 2012 to positive reviews and earned $65 million world-wide during its theatrical run.

Fast forward until April 13, 2015, exactly three years after the release, when Peter Gallagher filed a copyright infringement action against all the people behind the movie including Lions Gate, Goddard and Whedon. The statute of limitations for copyright infringement is three years from discovery, the reason why the case was filed on the anniversary of the release of the film. Gallagher claims that his 2006 book, The Little White Trip: A Night in the Pines, was ripped off for the story of Cabin in the Woods. Gallagher spends numerous pages of the complaint comparing the two stories: names are similar (Brinkley Cabin and Buckner Cabin); both stories have five friends visiting a remote cabin and then being manipulated and filmed; and even both the lead characters are blonde and have blue eyes. Gallagher requested damages in excess of $10 million for the infringement but did not explain why he waited the three years to bring this action.

Lawsuits like this are very routine and the plaintiff bears a difficult burden showing that that defendants had access to the not widely released book and that the two works are substantially similar. Teenagers going to the woods and being terrorized by an evil force is pretty routine for movies and this general motif is not protectable under copyright law. Plaintiff needed to show substantial similarity between the overall plot, theme, dialogue and events; and the judge said they were unable to do so. The judge found the plots completely different especially with the twist ending to *Cabin. The judge specifically found that a common premise of students travelling to a remote location and being murdered is a unprotectable scenes a faire *as it is common in the horror genre. The judge went on for 28 pages discussing the dissimilarities between the two works and we shall save you from this horror but the case was dismissed for failure to state a claim for infringement.

The case isn’t quite over yet for Gallagher. As the victors in this copyright case, defendants can request that the court order Gallagher to pay its costs including attorneys’ fees in defending the action. Drew Goddard recently spoke about a sequel to the movie saying one isn’t planned but isn’t out of the realm of possibility and I’m sure Gallagher is wishing the sequel talk and this lawsuit would all just go away.

