Hollywood studios can be sued for false advertising if trailers for their movies are found to be misleading, federal Judge Stephen Wilson ruled Tuesday, reports variety.
He made this decision in the context of a case related to the film Yesterday (2019), Danny Boyle’s musical comedy where a man wakes up in a world where the Beatles don’t exist.
Two fans of actress Ana de Armas filed a lawsuit last January alleging they had praised the film after seeing the actress in the trailer. Disadvantage: cut during editing, does not appear in the film.
Is it an art trailer?
Universal, which produced Yesterdaytried to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the advances are protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution (which prohibits limitation of free speech).
For Universal’s lawyers, a trailer is first and foremost “a work of art” that tells a story and the themes of a film in three minutes. For this reason, it should not be considered a marketing product.
Judge Stephen Wilson, however, rejected this argument: “Universal is right that trailers involve creativity, but that creativity does not outweigh their commercial nature.”
A compensation of 5 million?
However, it’s common for trailers, often made while the movies are unfinished, to offer scenes that are missing from the final cut. was the case of Jurassic Parkbut also various Marvel and mission impossible consequences.
Ana de Armas was going to have an important role in Yesterdaybut its plot was cut in the cut because it did not appeal to test-show audiences, the film’s screenwriter Richard Curtis explained in several interviews.
The plaintiffs, Conor Woulfe and Peter Michael Rosza, both rented Yesterday on Prime Video for $3.99. They hope to obtain compensation of 5 million dollars.
American viewers regularly try to attack studios for misleading advertising. In 2011, a Michigan resident filed a complaint against To driveconsidering it wasn’t… Fast and Furious.
Source: BFM TV
