Filmmaker Josh Webber and Muddy Water Pictures successfully won an $800K lawsuit against Damon Dash for copyright infringement and defamation about their movie “Dear Frank.” According to legal documents, the filmmakers and studio hired Damon in 2016 to co-direct “Dear Frank” but let him go after his performance suffered from being intoxicated on set repeatedly over two years. The project was filmed on a property owned by Damon Dash and with his equipment. The plaintiffs decided to sue Dash after learning that he pitched “Dear Frank” as his film under another name, “The List.”
The jury awarded $30,000 to Muddy Water Pictures for copyright infringement and another $125,000 in punitive damages, while Webber received $400,000 in compensatory damages for defamation. Jurors also gave the filmmaker another $250,000 in punitive damages.
Chris Brown, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said, “I will get every penny due to my clients.”
– Excerpt from an article for Yahoo News by Prezzy Brown. Read the full article here.
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