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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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‘Twilight’ Parody Case|Close to Settlement

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Summit Entertainment is close to settling with the makers of a low-budget Twilight movie spoof, attorneys on both sides of the copyright fight say.

John Gearries shot "Twiharder" in Los Angeles in 2010 with co-creator Christopher Sean, naming the comedy spoof after the legion of "Twilight" diehard fans, known as "Twihards."

Their company Between the Lines Productions filed a $500 million lawsuit in December 2013 after receiving cease-and-desist letters from Lions Gate Entertainment and Summit, over their $300,000-budgeted movie.

"The parodical nature of the movie title 'Twiharder' serves to defeat any claim by defendants that plaintiff's use of the single work title is confusingly similar to any of the titles released in connection with defendants' The Twilight Saga franchise," Between the Lines said in the lawsuit.

In March, U.S. District Judge Manuel Real handed Between the Lines a partial victory by ruling that the spoof did not violate Summit's trademarks .

Real urged the parties to settle the case, leaving Summit's copyright claims in play.

On Real's urging, the parties are close to bringing the case to an end.

"Without revealing the confidential nature of the parties' discussions and negotiations, the parties have reached agreement on the majority of the settlement terms," the parties wrote in a joint statement to the court on April 9. "BTL has not yet decided on the last material term proposed by Summit."

A final pretrial conference was taken off Judge Real's calendar Monday, indication a settlement is close.

Neither Between the Lines attorney James Freeman nor Summit attorney Jill Pietrini immediately responded to requests for comment Monday morning.

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