The Friday the 13th lawsuit may be settled within a month -

[PS1gamenwatch]

https://www.joblo.com/horror-movies...p118v0kLQR0_r8DGTXCUmybaRX2Cs2FRQhqUJKTLZ7KMI

The court battle over the rights to the original FRIDAY THE 13TH has been a long one, and it hasn't been without its casualties - the developers of the recent Friday the 13th: The Game had to stop adding new content into the game because of the lawsuit. Not even a ruling brought an end to this ordeal. When a judge decided that the copyright for the first F13 should be given to screenwriter Victor Miller in the United States, director/producer Sean S. Cunningham filed an appeal...

But lately things have been looking more hopeful. Cunningham withdrew his appeal, the deadline for refiling is coming up fast, and in an interview Miller indicated that lawyers were negotiating a settlement between himself and Cunningham's company Horror Inc.

It's a lucky break for fans that one actor who was in a FRIDAY THE 13TH movie, Larry Zerner, who played Shelly in FRIDAY THE 13TH PART III, went on to become an entertainment lawyer, and he has been interpreting the situation for us throughout the lawsuit process. In an interview that was posted by NWF Daily News on March 21st, Zerner said there's a good chance this will all be wrapped up by the end of April.

Here's the section of the interview that deals with the lawsuit:

In June 2016 Victor Miller filed paperwork to regain the rights to the screenplay he wrote for the original “Friday the 13th” film. Sean Cunningham countered by filing a lawsuit against Miller. Where are we at with the lawsuit now?
ZERNER

: In this case, the judge did not rule on the motion until September of 2018, and they ruled in Victor’s favor. They said Victor had the right to terminate. That meant in June of 2018 the termination went into effect. Under the law, that means he gets the rights back to his screenplay in the first movie only. He doesn’t own any of the other movies or characters that only appeared in those other movies. And it only applies in the United States, the termination. So Sean still owns the rights to the first movie outside of the United States.
Victor won, Sean filed an appeal of the case and then a few weeks ago he withdrew the appeal, and my sources told me that was because of some technical thing (and he may soon refile), but it may be because they’re talking a settlement and they needed to buy some time.
I hear they’re talking settlement. They have, I think, another (two) weeks. Either he’s going to refile the appeal or they’re going to say they settled. I think Sean’s chances on appeal are small and I think he knows that. And an appeal is going to take another two years, maybe three. And there’s a lot of money at stake because you want to get the movies out. You’re not doing anything, nobody’s making money, so there’s an incentive to settle and not wait.
I think there’s a better than 50/50 chance that we’ll see a settlement in the next 30 days.

That's great to hear, and keep in mind that this interview was conducted at least a week ago, so that moves everything forward a bit. The deadline for refiling the appeal would now be a week away, and hopefully there won't be a refiling. Hopefully the next news we hear about all this will be that a settlement has been reached and new FRIDAY THE 13TH projects can finally move forward.

 

[Bassomatic]

This law suit has more staying power than Jason anymore.

I'll believe it when I see it.

It's kinda a dead horse of a franchise anymore I don't even know if fighting over the bones to make yet another flop remake is worthwhile.

 

[ObsoleteMediaFormat]

Wouldn't be shocked after how well Halloween 2018 and IT did that they are just trying to settle it just to get on that train when it is hot.

 

[Stab You in the Back]

It's kinda a dead horse of a franchise anymore I don't even know if fighting over the bones to make yet another flop remake is worthwhile.

I don't care about the remake as much as I care about the game. The game was hella fun and they had to stop adding new content because of the lawsuit. This thing getting resolved is the first step to getting new content and, potentially, a sequel.

 

[PS1gamenwatch]

Bad news:

Friday the 13th franchise could be heading back to court

The FRIDAY THE 13TH rights issue still isn't settled.

www.joblo.com

FRIDAY THE 13TH FRANCHISE COULD BE HEADING BACK TO COURT
17 hours ago by: Cody Hamman

Things were looking so promising, we thought we were starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel for the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise's legal issues. The screenwriter of the original film, Victor Miller, had been awarded the copyright to that movie within the United States, and it seemed Miller and the film's producer/director Sean S. Cunningham, whose company Horror Inc. holds the rights to the franchise overall, were going to come to a settlement that would allow them to put this all behind them.
Miller gave an interview in which he indicated settlement negotiations were underway. FRIDAY THE 13TH PART III cast member Larry Zerner, who is now an entertainment lawyer, predicted a settlement would be reached very soon. Lawyers representing Miller and Horror Inc. had a couple three hour conversations about settlement last month.

But now it looks like things have fallen apart, as Horror Inc. appears to be moving forward with an appeal of the court decision that handed the first movie's copyright to Miller.
Zerner took to his Twitter account with the update that Horror Inc. has filed a stipulation regarding use of deferred appendix... and while that collection of words doesn't mean much to me, those who understand lawyer speak will know it means

they won't have to file the appendix until after they file their briefs. ... The briefs are the legal papers filed in the appellate court in which each party explains to the judges why they should win the case. The appendix is a list of the exhibits that are referred to in the briefs.

Horror Inc. moving ahead with the appeal is a doom and gloom scenario, because a return to court means the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise will continue to be bogged down in this lawsuit for the foreseeable future. We're not going to get any new movies or games until this issue is settled, and this could go on for a few more years.
Jason isn't dead for good, I'm sure we'll see more F13 sometime down the line, but a legal dispute is certainly the most effective way to keep him buried for a substantial amount of time.