Date: 26th October 2011

Stallone sued, accused of stealing screenplay


Sylvester Stallone has been accused of copying another writer's work in The Expendables.

The actor appeared in the 2010 action movie and co-wrote the script with David Callaham. However, writer Marcus Webb filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement at Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, Reuters Canada reports.

The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday by writer Marcus Webb, who said the screenplay for "The Expendables" is "strikingly similar and in some places identical" to his work entitled "The Cordoba Caper."

Webb seeks unspecified damages for copyright infringement and an order from the court stopping further infringement in any sequel by Stallone, his credited co-author David Callaham, Millennium Films, its Nu Image Films unit and Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation.

According to the lawsuit, Webb registered "The Cordoba Caper" screenplay and a short story with the same title and plot with the U.S. Copyright Office in June 2006. Between 2006 and 2009, the lawsuit said, the screenplay was made widely available by Webb for consideration in the movie industry.

"There can be no dispute that Stallone and/or Callaham had access to and copied protectable elements of the screenplay," the lawsuit said.

"The Cordoba Caper" tells the story of a team of elite, highly-trained mercenaries hired to defeat General Garza, a rogue army general of a small Latin American country," the lawsuit said.

Stallone's spokesperson declined to comment and a lawyer for studio Millennium Films only confirmed that the company had not been served with any legal documents.

The Expendables' distributor Lionsgate has not yet commented on the allegations.

A sequel to The Expendables is currently in production for release on August 17, 2012.

Source: Press Release