Gray v. Paramount Global

**Plaintiff:** Shaun Gray, individual screenwriter and visual effects artist, resident of Ulster County, New York. **Defendant:** Paramount Global, Paramount Pictures Corporation, and Paramount Streaming Services Inc. (all Delaware corporations); plus Does 1–10. **Core allegation:** Gray co-wrote key action sequences in the *Top Gun: Maverick* screenplay between June and November 2017 without a work-for-hire agreement or assignment, making him a joint author and joint copyright owner of the screenplay and film. Paramount released and exploited the film—grossing among the highest box-office totals of all time—without crediting Gray, compensating him, or accounting to him for his pro-rata share of profits. **Asserted IP:** - Copyright in the *Top Gun: Maverick* screenplay (joint work, 17 U.S.C. § 101) - Copyright in the *Top Gun: Maverick* film (theatrical release May 27, 2022) - Gray's independently authored scenes ("Gray Scenes"), including the hypersonic prototype sequence, the Maverick-vs.-trainees dogfight, the mission briefing, the nuclear-facility bombing run, the F-14 theft/escape, and the carrier crash-landing (registration number not stated) **Relief sought:** Declaratory judgment of joint authorship and joint copyright ownership; full accounting and payment of pro-rata profits from all exploitation (theatrical, streaming, broadcast, games, derivatives); alternatively, damages for copyright infringement. **Why it matters:** The case directly implicates how Hollywood studios structure informal writing collaborations to avoid copyright ownership claims, and could expose Paramount to profit-sharing liability on one of the top-grossing films in history, with a sequel reportedly in development.