FOX BOSSES SUED OVER CHIPMUNKS PROFITS
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS follow-up THE SQUEAKQUEL is at the centre of a le gal battle - the family which owns the rights to the franchise is demandi ng bosses at 20th Century Fox hand over half the profits from the film.
Executives at Bagdasarian Productions, along with writer Janice Karman, allege "substantial copyrighted" portions of a screenplay Karman wrote w ere used in last year’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel without p ermission.
The lawsuit claims Karman, who is married to the son of late Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., penned a screenplay for the film and was o ffered a compensation fee from the studio, which she turned down as insuf ficient.
The family’s complaint reads: "Karman’s provision of her screenplay wri tings to Fox was conditioned upon the payment of adequate compensation fo r those writings and her attendant services, which Karman never received.
" But Fox studio executives are planning to battle the suit, calling it " completely without merit".
A statement from Fox adds, "We look forward to resolving our difference s and, in the meantime, we are continuing to move forward with this franc hise." The plaintiffs want Karman to be made a co-owner of the script, and arg ue she should receive half of all profits "attributable to The Squeakquel ’s screenplay". The animated movie raked in more than $442 million (=C2=A3 295 million) at the worldwide box office, reports Reuters. (PAW&ZN/WNWR/L
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