The Conjuring film franchise is full of frightening supernatural elements, but according to distributor Warner Bros., it's based on true, historical events. The company may be forced to pay $900 million if it can't prove that self-proclaimed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorrain Warren really encountered ghosts. Author Gerald Brittle claims that the horror franchise -- which includes The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, and Annabelle -- was based on his 1980 nonfiction book The Demonologist. Warner Bros has countered by claiming that the events the Warrens experienced as "historical" and thus, fair use. The author essentially responded that if the story is real, then Warner Bros. has to prove that ghosts actually exist. .
According to Brittle's 355-page amended complaint that he filed in March in Virginia, US, federal court, The Conjuring franchise infringe on his exclusive rights to create derivative works based on the Warrens' cases. The Warrens gave Brittle the rights in 1978, a couple of years before he released The Demonologist. According to the "no competing work provision in their agreement that's still in effect, the Warrens are not allowed to contract or make any works based on the same subject as Brittle's book, including their "lives and experiences as paranormal investigators."
The complaint says that Warner Bros. should have asked Brittle for permission to legally produce the films instead of Lorraine Warren. The book publisher Prentice Hall initially acquired the subsidiary motion picture rights to Warrens' case files but they were transferred to Brittle.
The Hollywood Reporter released details of the case, as written by Brittle's attorney, Patrick C. Henry II: "[W]hen Lorraine Warren granted the Defendants the right to use the Warren Case Files, which the Defendants themselves repeatedly state their movies are based on, she could not have done so because she had years earlier contractually granted that exclusive right to use those same Warren cases, Warren Case Files and related materials to the Plaintiff. Lorraine Warren had nothing to convey."
He went on: "It is very hard to believe that a large conglomerate such as Warner Brothers, with their army of lawyers and who specializes in intellectual property rights deals, would not have found The Demonologist book or the deals related to it, or Brittle for that matter." He said that the "only logical conclusion" is that Warner Bros. were aware about Warren's agreement with Brittle bug just assumed "they would never get caught." Now, Brittle is seeking $900 million USD, just a slightly more than the $886 million the films grossed at the global box office.
When he wrote The Demonologist, Brittle believed that the Warrens' accounts of their experiences to be true, but he had since changed his mind, claiming he believed he was fooled. Henry wrote that it was just a bunch of lies (which Brittle claims he didn't learn until after the sale of his book). His attorney writes: "This is a pattern of deceit that is part of a scheme that the Warrens have perpetuated for years ... There are no historical facts of a witch ever existing at the Perron farmhouse, a witch hanging herself, possession, Satanic worship or child sacrifice."
Brittle also says that New Line explicity told its screenwriters not to read his book because the studio presumably knew that it didn't own the rights to the book. According to the complaint, this proves that Warner Bros. ignored the "inconvenient" fact and proceeded with producing the films.
Andrea Perron, one of the "real life victims" portrayed in The Conjuring, defended Lorraine Warren. She was one of the five children who lived with their family in the haunted farmhouse the movie was based on, from 1971-1980. According to TooFab, Perron wrote a message on Facebook about the case, saying that she didn't like what Brittle was claiming in his lawsuit.
"Mr. Brittle owns no right to anything regarding the Perron family," she wrote, "Admittedly, I have not yet read 'The Demonologist' but I am told elements of our case are included in the book. Now, 37 years later, he is suing WB for $900 million bucks. Ok...wow. I know none of the details of this case, except what has been reported in the press. From what I've read, it seems Mr. Brittle has made some rather disparaging remarks about Mrs. Warren, which is very unfortunate."
She added: "No matter what the infraction, I would be incapable of saying anything against her and I consider his words inhumane. I think this ghostly writer is grabbing at straws. Perhaps this is some sort of misguided retirement plan. Either way, I'm staying out of it. WB will crush him in court if it ever gets that far."
According to Perron, Brittle never acquired the permission to write about the family at all. Warren introduced Brittle to Perron's mother, who said that they should not be involved with it."She then suggested to Mr. Brittle that he get as far away from 'it' as he possibly could, assuring him that no good would come of it," Perron said. "He questioned why she was so nervous, being very mysterious, downright cryptic with her messages but she did not choose to share her latest close encounter with him and he couldn't see her bruised and battered body over a phone. She warned him off but apparently he ignored her remarks and wrote about us anyway."
Two year before the first Conjuring film was released, Wan praised Brittle's The Demonologist as the "scariest book" he had read. Check out his tweet from 2011:
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