Top Gun: Maverick’ Copyright Claim Dismissed by US Federal Appeals Court

A US federal appeals court has ruled that the 2022 Tom Cruise blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick did not infringe a magazine article that inspired the original 1986 Top Gun film.

 

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California, found that Maverick, produced by Paramount Pictures, was not substantially similar to Top Guns, a 1983 article by Ehud Yonay about the US Navy’s Top Gun fighter pilot training school in San Diego.

 

Yonay had granted Paramount rights to his article for the original Top Gun, and was credited in the film. His widow, Shosh Yonay, and son, Yuval Yonay, heirs to his copyright, terminated the licence in 2020, claiming they were entitled to a share of profits from Maverick, which has grossed $1.5 billion worldwide -- Tom Cruise’s highest-grossing film and the 14th highest of all time, according to Box Office Mojo.

 

Lawyers for the Yonays did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Paramount, part of Paramount Skydance, said it was pleased the appeals court had “recognised that plaintiffs’ claims were completely without merit.”

 

The Yonays, both from Israel, argued that Maverick shared plot, character, dialogue, and thematic elements with Top Guns, depicting “what it takes to be the best of the best in fighter aviation.”

 

The three-judge panel found that Maverick contained numerous significant plot elements absent from Top Guns, including a romantic subplot and Cruise’s character, Navy Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, returning to train younger pilots. The court also noted that the Yonays described the works at “such a high level of abstraction” that the alleged similarities were not legally protectable.

 

“Their claim of substantial similarity fails because what is protected is not similar, and what is similar is not protected,” wrote Circuit Judge Eric Miller.

 

The panel further ruled that Paramount was not required to credit Ehud Yonay in Maverick, as the 1983 agreement did not cover the 2022 film. Friday’s decision upheld an April 2024 dismissal by US District Judge Percy Anderson in Los Angeles.

 

Paramount is also defending a separate lawsuit in New York by screenwriter Shaun Gray, who claims he wrote several scenes that appeared in Maverick and is entitled to a share of its profits. Jury selection is scheduled for March 9.

 

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