AND NOT GETTING PAID FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!
"Matrix Lawsuit
Claim: Sophia Stewart won a large judgment in a copyright infringement suit over authorship of the film The Matrix.
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2005]
Monday, October 4th 2004 ended a six-year dispute involving Sophia Stewart, the Wachowski Brothers, Joel Silver and Warner Brothers. Stewart's allegations, involving copyright infringement and racketeering, were received and acknowledged by the Central District of California, Judge Margaret Morrow residing.
Stewart, a New Yorker who has resided in Salt Lake City for the past five years, will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels. She will soon receive one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood, as the gross receipts of both films and their sequels total over 2.5 billion dollars.
Stewart filed her case in 1999, after viewing the Matrix, which she felt had been based on her manuscript, "The Third Eye," copyrighted in 1981. In the mid-eighties Stewart had submitted her manuscript to an ad placed by the Wachowski Brothers, requesting new sci-fi works.
[Remainder of article here.]
Origins: The Matrix was an immediate box office hit upon its release in March 1999, quickly grabbing the public's imagination and its movie-going dollars. Together with its two sequels it has grossed in excess of $2.5 billion, making it one of the most lucrative film franchises in cinematic history.
Controversy exists, however, over its authorship. Sophia Stewart, a native New Yorker who lives in Salt Lake City and works as a paralegal, has claimed in a lawsuit brought against directors Andy and Larry Wachowski, producer Joel Silver, Warner Bros., and Twentieth Century Fox that The Matrix and Terminator film franchises were based on her ideas. According to Stewart, in 1986 she responded to an advertisement posted by the Wachowski brothers in a national magazine soliciting science fiction manuscripts to make into comic books by sending them "The Third Eye," a short story she wrote and copyrighted in 1981. She never heard from them, nor did she receive her manuscript back. When she saw The Matrix in 1999 she was struck by how closely it resembled her story. She filed suit against the makers of the film, seeking over $1 billion in damages. This page provides links to a number of files and articles about her
lawsuit.
Stewart's case was dismissed in June 2005 when she failed to show up for a preliminary hearing of her case. In a 53-page ruling, Judge Margaret Morrow of the Central District Court of California dismissed the suit, saying Stewart and her attorneys had not entered any evidence to bolster its key claims or demonstrated any striking similarity between her work and the accused directors' films. As of this writing, Stewart's case is no longer before the courts. She has announced that she does not plan to let the matter drop, so possibly this case will someday be re-filed and heard, but for now it is over.
A less than accurate newspaper article about Stewart and her case caused many to believe the woman claiming authorship had won her copyright infringement suit and was about to receive a multi-billion dollar settlement. This 28 October 2004 article, penned by a second-year communications student for the Salt Lake Community College Globe, erred in mistaking Stewart's 4 October 2004 successful counter to a dismissal motion for her having prevailed in her suit. The article asserted Stewart "will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels" and would "soon receive one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood." What Stewart had won was the right to proceed with her case, but nothing more.
The Globe subsequently posted the following correction:
In reference to the recent article entitled "Mother of the Matrix Victorious," some information has been deemed misleading. Ms. Sophia Stewart has not yet won her case against Joel Silver, Time Warner and the Wachowski Bros. The decision on October 4th enabled Ms. Stewart to proceed with her case, as all attempts to have it dismissed were unsuccessful. Ms. Stewart's case will proceed through the Central District Court of California.
Thanks,
The Globe Staff
In November 2009, some web-based news sites erroneously republished outdated (and inaccurate) articles from 2004 claiming that Sophia Stewart had won her case.
Barbara "case closed" Mikkelson
Last updated: 15 November 2009
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Sources Sources:
Carter, Martha. "'Mother of the Matrix' Victorious."
Salt Lake Community College Globe. 28 October 2004.
Gordon, Ed. "News & Notes: Sophia Stewart Discusses Her Lawsuit Against Warner Bros."
National Public Radio. 24 May 2005.
Powers, Kemp. "The Billion-Dollar Myth."
Los Angeles Times. 31 July 2005.
Wright, E. Assata. "Fact or Fiction: Is There Any Truth to the Latest Urban Legends?"
Essence. May 2005 (p. 46)."
Source:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/matrix.aspHere's her interview here:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/3297092^This sista break it down to the T. Nubian goddess, I am rooting for ya to win this.
