Warner Bros. might have to pay $900 million if it can't prove ghosts are real

Watch Warner Bros. might have to pay $900 million if it can't prove ghosts are real - Business Insider on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00 "What is it?"

00:02 [Sawing sound]

00:03 This has to be one of the most bizarre lawsuits in Hollywood history.

00:08 An author is suing the studio behind the super successful Conjuring franchise

00:13 for $900 million, which is just slightly more than the films made at the box office.

00:19 [Sawing sound]

00:20 The Conjuring movies and the spin-off Annabelle tout themselves as being based on the true case files of the Warrens.

00:27 The Warrens were a married pair of paranormal investigators.

00:31 Gerald Brittle wrote a book about them in 1980 called The Demonologist.

00:36 Brittle said the Warrens signed an agreement with him in 1978 stating that they aren't allowed to make or contract any works

00:43 based on the same subject as Brittle's book with anyone but him.

00:47 But in 1997, Warner Brothers signed an agreement with the Warrens for the rights to make movies based on their case files,

00:54 which Brittle says violates his pre-existing contract with the Warrens.

00:58 [Ominous music]

01:00 In 2015, Brittle sent a cease and desist letter trying to fight the release of The Conjuring 2

01:06 saying that he had the exclusive rights to the Warrens' case files.

01:09 Warner Brothers responded by saying the films weren't based on The Demonologist, but instead on historical facts.

01:17 [Sawing sound]

01:18 That's where Brittle and his legal team think they have a chance to beat Warner Brothers.

01:23 Brittle says there's nothing factual about the Warrens' case files because ghosts and witches aren't real,

01:29 and neither are dolls who murder people.

01:32 Brittle and many other skeptics claim that the Warrens perpetuated a hoax for years.

01:38 Brittle's lawyer said this,

01:39 "To the extent the defendants' movies are not based on historical facts,

01:44 they cannot claim they are protected by the fair use doctrine exemption to copyright."

01:48 In order to prove that the Warrens' findings are indeed historical facts,

01:53 Warner Brothers would have to make the biggest paranormal breakthrough in history

01:57 and prove that a witch killed herself outside a farmhouse,

02:00 that evil spirits are real,

02:02 and that Annabelle is coming to get you.

02:04 We reached out to Warner Brothers, but they declined to comment.

02:08 And at this point, the lawsuit has been filed, but Warner Brothers has yet to receive it.

02:13 No!

02:16 (dramatic music)