Apple and M. Night Shyamalan have won an appeal in the copyright dispute over Apple TV series "Servant," with a federal appeals court upholding last year's jury verdict in their favor (via Reuters).
In its October 22 decision, the Ninth Circuit rejected filmmaker Francesca Gregorini's arguments that problems with the jury instructions and an unanswered question from jurors warranted overturning the result.
Gregorini sued in January 2020, alleging that the first three episodes of "Servant" copied her 2013 film "The Truth About Emanuel." Both stories involve a grieving mother who treats a doll as a living baby and a young caregiver. A jury unanimously ruled for Apple, Shyamalan, and the other defendants on January 24, 2025, according to the final judgment.
The appeal focused on whether jurors received enough guidance to assess if the show's creators could have encountered Gregorini's film. The court found that the instructions were adequate and that the judge could accept the unanimous verdict before answering the jury's request for clarification.
The lawsuit was initially dismissed in 2020, then revived on appeal in 2022 before proceeding to trial. "Servant" stars Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell, Nell Tiger Free, and Rupert Grint, with Shyamalan serving as an executive producer.
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