Playwright Dunn, Bucking System, Sues "Truman"

By Murdoch McBride

To sue or not to sue. The decision didn't come easy for playwright Mark Dunn, author of the 1992 Off-Broadway play, "Frank's Life." Dunn says that when he saw "The Truman Show," Paramount's recent hit film starring Jim Carey, he felt that it so closely resembled his play that he had to sue for copyright infringement. On June 16, he did just that.

Both film and play focus on a main character who is in fact a figure in a sitcom. Indeed, everyone the character knows--family, friends, and passersby--are actors playing roles. Rumors abound that "Truman" is an Oscar favorite for Best Picture and Best Actor (Jim Carey).

Describing his quandary over whether or not he should go to court, Dunn told Back Stage he finally determined that "in a rational universe, it couldn't be coincidence." This is the sort of reasoning plaintiffs cite as they discuss copyright infringement cases, which put them at odds with powerful forces in the industry, exposing them to ridicule, scrutiny, and questions about their financial motives.

This scrutiny is agonizing for Dunn, who feels that there is a prevailing defensiveness throughout the industry, as evidenced by some of the comments made following his filing suit. Before everyone closed ranks and started refusing to comment, Dunn read a revealing quote from writer/director Andrew Niccol's literary agent, Lynn Pleshette, of the Pleshette/Millner Literary Agency in Los Angeles. Dunn said that, in the June 16 issue of the New York Post, Shapiro described his story as "insane," and went on to say that "every time a big movie comes out, a moron tries to sue."

"The thing that really rankles me," Dunn added, "Is that while a lot of people are fair and will allow for the possibility of infringement, the powers that be in the film industry immediately pull up the drawbridge. It's like, 'Oh, there's someone aiming at the castle!' There are 108 similarities listed in the complaint. I cannot see--with all these similarities--that the script was coincidence or independently developed."

Dunn has sued Paramount Pictures, producer Scott Rudin, and screenwriter Andrew Niccol.

"We're quite proud of the case," said Carl Person, Dunn's attorney. "It's the best case of substantial similarity [a benchmark in copyright cases] that I've ever seen, and I've seen many of them."

In fact, attorney Person has tangled with producer Rudin twice before in court. The first case dealt with a Mid-West couple who felt their life story had been used to form the basis for the film "Regarding Henry." A judge dismissed that case. Person also lost the second case, which centered on the film, "Sister Act." The case is on appeal.

On the "Truman" suit, Person added, "If Scott Rudin were to say, 'Yes, I went and saw 'Frank's Life' and loved it so much that I got a copy and yes, I borrowed some ideas ' that still wouldn't establish 'substantial similarity.' "

Dunn's lawyer added that his client's play shares many similarities with the film, including intricate literary elements like plot, character development, pacing, similarity in language, location, genre, and the characters themselves.

Dunn's play had been read by certain studios, although Dunn said he really hadn't been knocking on doors. He said the idea to send the play around actually came from "someone at Schindler and Sherdlow [agents] who wanted to see if he could generate any interest in adapting it to film. It went to Fox and to Paramount." Dunn was represented by the Peter Miller Agency (PMA) at that time. PMA does not represent plays, but was shopping a novel by Dunn that has yet to be published.

Contacted this week regarding the suit, Paramount Pictures spokesperson Blaze Noto said, "We cannot comment on pending litigation." Calls to producer Scott Rudin's lawyer and to screenwriter Andrew Niccol were not returned by press time and other requests for information or comment on the suit were either denied or referred to Paramount.

Dunn, who was familiar with "Truman"--and aware of the similarities between it and his play before the movie opened-- made initial contact with Person in May. "At the time, he discouraged me from taking any action until the movie came out. And as we approached the release date, I felt that I did not want to go to an attorney and hear him say, 'You know, copyright infringement cases are hard to win, and I don't want to take that risk.' But after having seen the movie and having read the play, he thought we had a case."

"Frank's Life" was produced for three months in the summer of '92 and was reviewed in the New York Post.

Dunn insists his motives are appropriate to an author protecting his rights. "In a copyright infringement suit," he said, "an author can sue for 100 percent of the gross. That's not greed, that's the law."