Judge dismisses Lovelace suit

Judge Thomas Griesa rejected a $10m claim filed on Monday by Arrow Productions that sought to block the film’s Aug 9 release on the basis that Lovelace contains more than five minutes of footage from Arrow’s seminal 1972 release Deep Throat that was used without permission.

The plaintiff had also sought judgment for use of the title Lovelace, which they claim was borrowed from their trademarked name Linda Lovelace without licence or permission.

However the US District Court judge dismissed the plaintiff’s claims, finding in favour of Millennium Films, Nu Image, Animus Films, Untitled Entertainment, Eclectic Pictures, Avi Lerner, Laura Rister and RADiUS-TWC.

“We are relieved that common sense prevailed,” said Millennium Films president Mark Gill. “The suit was completely unwarranted. We believe this case was an insult to the legal safeguards in place maintaining our right to freedom of speech. It was without merit on every level.

“Arrow Productions’ complaint was transparent about its desire to control discussion about Deep Throat – a film they describe as a ‘watershed’ in American popular culture – and to hinder projects that would compete with theirs. The law does not support either of these motives.”

Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman directed Lovelace, which stars Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard, Hank Azaria, Sharon Stone and Juno Temple.

Heidi Jo Markel, Laura Rister, Jason Weinberg and Jim Young produced and the executive producer roster includes Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, John Thompson, Gill and Merritt Johnson.