O.K. for the last time… IT’S NOT TRUE!
By Sergio, on October 28th, 2009
I can practically guarantee that every reader on our site, no matter where in the world they may be, has heard of Sophia Stewart at least once in their lives. If the name escapes you at the moment, this should refresh your memory… she’s the woman who won a major million dollar copyright infringement suit against the Wachowski brothers, producer Joel Silver and Warner Bros, over The Matrix, which the main concept, she claimed, was stolen from a sci-fi book she wrote back in the early 80’s called, The Third Eye. And that the all powerful, all seeing and all knowing media establishment have conspired in a plan to keep the public from knowing that this lone brave sister had triumphed over the wicked powers that be.
Yeah, right you’re saying to yourself. I know who she is now. However there’s only one problem was this story… IT’S NOT TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No doubt you’ve heard about her and her case from what looks like a legitimate news story that’s circulated on the internet, all over the world, at least six billion times during the last few years. Just this morning, I received that same e-mail (I think for the 1,246th time), this time from a close friend overseas who got it from a friend in Europe who, from what I understand, got it from a high level U.S. government official in Europe. But believe me folks, I swear it’s not true. And no, I’m not hatin’ either.
The basic facts are certainly true. Sci-fi writer Stewart did indeed sue the makers of The Matrix for copyright violations and she also has claimed that The Terminator and its sequels were also stolen from her. But the cold fact is that she LOST her case, and it was thrown out of court in June 2005. As the L.A. Times reported at the time:
“Unfortunately, Judge Margaret Morrow wasn’t interested in surprises. In her 53-page ruling, Morrow dismissed [Sophia Stewart]’s case, noting that Stewart and her attorneys had not entered any evidence to bolster the key claims in her suit or demonstrated any striking similarity between her work and the accused directors’ films. Stewart says she is hiring additional attorneys and is asking the court to reconsider that decision, but earlier this summer, in a nearly empty courtroom 790 of the Roybal Federal Building, Stewart’s case apparently ended with a whimper.”
However, Stewart, who was notorious in Hollywood for being something of a nutcase, according to people in the industry I know, was very clever and made up the fake news item and sent it out over the internet where it’s obviously been circulating even still today. Just this weekend, at a function, someone came up to me asking me about if I had heard about this woman who won this case about the Matrix being stolen from her. It just refuses to die.
Naturally, the item was jumped on by the black media without checking out the facts, which caused it to keep going even farther. It’s easy to understand why it would happen. People want to believe so much in the idea of a some sister battling against a Snidely Whiplash (an in-joke reference to baby boomers out there) moustache twirling, evil, corrupt, greedy white power structure, and against all odds, emerging victorious. But that’s not that case here folks. Sorry to burst your bubble.
In fact Stewart, after losing her case, believes that her lawyers were in-cahoots with the Matrix people to destroy her case and reputation, and in July 2007 filed a $150 million malpractice lawsuit against them. Since then, nothing has been heard of Ms. Stewart, her case, or anything else for that matter. So the next time you get that e-mail about Stewart winning the case, remember what I’ve just told you.
Or if you want to, believe it, if makes you feel better.
