James Otero Denies Universal Pictures' Motion To Decline As Central District Judge Debunks Section 6 Failing There First Attempt!

Universal Pictures did not succeed in its first attempt as a judge turned down Universal's motion to dismiss a lawsuit over 'Section 6.'

In April right-holders of the profitable James Bond franchise, Danjaq and MGM brought the lawsuit labeling Section 6 a "James Bond knockoff."

In retaliation, Universal argued that the "picture in question has not been 'green lit,' i.e., no decision has yet been made whether actually to produce it." The studio said that for the court to examine alleged copyright infringement at this early stage would be a "patent waste of resources," and appealed that the lawsuit be discharged.

James Otero. U.S. District Judge has turned down the motion; however, his order is still under seal so his acumen is directly clear.

The complainant defined the Universal's project as "featuring a daring, tuxedo-clad British secret agent, employed by 'His Majesty's Secret Service,' with a 'license to kill,' and a 00 (double-O) secret agent number on a mission to save England from the diabolical plot of a megalomanical villain."

According to reports filed and details available, Section 6 is going to be about the early days of the British spy outfit, MI-6.

In expecting an adjournment, Universal disagreed "threadbare allegations about hypothetical future infringement in works yet to be produced are simply not actionable."

Judge Otero won't be the first one to reject that assessment, if he has.

In February, Judge Dolly Gee permitted a case to proceed involving competing projects by Universal and Warner Bros. to develop a new film version of Dungeons & Dragons. Though Warner Bros. wasn't directly an offender in this case, the judge declared that the creation of a script was ""intermediate copying" and the script could breach the copyright law "even in the absence of a final script or film." The offenders in that clash Sweetpea Entertainment and Hasbro just encased a bench trial. The ruling set is sometime later this year.

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James Otero
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