Barbara Chase-Riboud v.
Dreamworks
In October 1997, award-winning author Barbara Chase-Riboud filed suit in federal court in California against the Dreamworks studio, claiming that Dreamworks had lifted numerous themes and portions of her 1989 book, "Echo of Lions," for use in the studio's upcoming film, the Steven Spielberg project Amistad.
Both works tell the story of the 1839 revolt of captured Africans aboard the Spanish ship L'Amistad, who killed their captors and were ultimately vindicated in an 1841 Supreme Court case argued on their behalf by former President John Quincy Adams.
Chase-Riboud claimed that Spielberg had plagiarized significant elements from her work and pointed to the actions of Amblin Entertainment, Spielberg's production company, which in 1988 reviewed Chase-Riboud's work (sent to them by her editor at Doubleday, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) but passed on it as a potential project.
She sought $10 million in damages.
About one month after her initial suit was filed, Chase-Riboud filed an additional motion, requesting that the court order an injunction, barring Amistad from opening until the suit was resolved.
Dreamworks, meanwhile, argued that not only had they not plagiarized Chase-Riboud's work, but that Chase-Riboud had lifted details for her book from a 1953 book about the Amistad incident, "Black Mutiny," to which Dreamworks had acquired the rights through Amistad producer Debbie Allen, who bought them in 1984 -- years before Chase-Riboud approached Amblin about an Amistad project.
Additionally, on December 19, the New York Times reported that Chase-Riboud lifted passages from the 1936 history "The Harem" for her 1986 novel "Valide: A Novel of the Harem." Chase-Riboud countered that it was "obvious" to readers that one section was taken from the earlier book, and that she had done nothing wrong.
On December 8, U.S. District Court Judge Audrey Collins rejected the request and the film opened on December 12.
Then on February 9, 1998 Chase-Riboud dropped the suit, saying she had reviewed Dreamworks documents and decided they did not do "anything improper." Neither side in the case would say if a monetary settlement was involved.
Judge's Decision on Preliminary Injunction
The December 8, 1997 ruling from Judge Audrey Collins rejecting Chase-Riboud's request for an injunction to keep the film from opening on December 12, 1997. While Collins found that Chase-Riboud's case had raised "serious questions going to the merits of her copyright infringement claim" and would likely have a viable case during the trial phase, she also pointed to the fact that Dreamworks had "invested approximately $70-75 million" in the film and could not find adequate burden to bar the film from opening.
Complaint by Chase-Riboud
In this original complaint from October 17, 1997, Chase-Riboud charges Dreamworks with copyright violation, breach of implied contract and unfair competition. In this complaint, the initial contact between Chase-Riboud and Amblin Entertainment is explained and Chase-Riboud's discoveries of the similarities between the two works is described. Also included are numerous allegations of plagiarism of her book "Echo of Lions," including the name of one of Dreamworks' earlier shooting scripts ("The Other Lion"), a similar fictional character in both works ("a prosperous, erudite, middle-aged Black man living in New Haven, Connecticut") and the invention of a child for the main character, Joseph Cinque.
Declaration by Chase-Riboud
Filed on November 17, 1997 in support of her request for an injunction of the film's release, this document goes into further detail about how she wrote "Echo of Lions," her earlier contact with Amblin Entertainment, and her deal with Dustin Hoffman's Punch Productions (Hoffman was at one point offered a role in Amistad). It also specifically documents the alleged similarities between the two works.
1841 Supreme Court Ruling in United States v. The Amistad
This ruling affirmed earlier rulings by U.S. District and Circuit courts in the original case between the U.S. government and the freed slaves on the Amistad. The U.S. Attorney argued that the government was bound to return the slaves to the Spanish government, but all of the courts rejected that argument. However, while the Circuit Court in Connecticut found that the former slaves were to be returned by the U.S. to their homeland, the Supreme Court overturned that part of the earlier ruling and determined that Joseph Cinque and the others aboard the Amistad were "declared to be free, and...dismissed from the custody of the Court."
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