"50 Shades of Grey" is a racy book. Everyone knows that. Some people have even called it 'Mommy Porn,' so naturally you'd think that someone would eventually make a pornographic film based on the erotic romance novel. Well, Smash Pictures did, and now it's getting hit with a major lawsuit by Universal Pictures.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Universal claims that the porn parody of "50 Shades of Grey" would be infringing on trademarks and copyright. Smash Pictures does not agree. It believes that "50 Shades of Grey" is public domain and its version, "50 Shades of Grey: A XXX Adaption," would not step on Universal's toes.
Author E.L. James based "50 Shades" off her 'Mommy Porn' original, "Master of the Universe." 'Mommy Porn' began on "Twilight" fan-fiction websites, where authors used the story's characters to create their own erotic versions of the story. James then took it to the next level. She fleshed out her popular "Master of the Universe" and replaced Edward Cullen and Bella Swan with Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele.
So if James' "50 Shades" is based off her "Twilight" fan-fiction 'Mommy Porn' novel, why can't Smash Pictures base its erotic "A XXX Adaptation" off "50 Shades?" It seems only fair.
"On information and belief, as much as 89 percent of the content of the allegedly copyrighted materials grew out of a multipart series of fan fiction called 'Masters of the Universe' based on Stephenie Myer's 'Twilight' novels. On information and belief, this content was published online between 2009 and 2011 in various venues, including fanfiction.net and the personal website of Ericka Leonard. On information and belief, much or all of this material was placed in the public domain," claims Smash Pictures.
In its defense, Universal states that the adaptation would draw from scenes, characters and dialogue from the original novel, whereas James created her own unique characters and settings that were only influenced by the "Twilight" saga.
"Defendants are in fact referring to an earlier version of the same story written by Ms. Mitchell, which they in their own improper deposition notice identified as 'Masters of the Universe.' Defendants do not and cannot provide any legal authority for the proposition that an earlier version of Ms. Mitchell's work is now in the 'public domain,'" said Universal lawyer Andrew Thomas.
It makes sense that Universal is against a "50 Shades" porn parody. The two would basically be the same movie. After all, "50 Shades of Grey" is as pornographic as a novel can get. Perhaps Universal is just scared of a little "50 Shades" competition.