A federal Mississippi judge has decided to dismiss a lawsuit against Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris brought on by William Faulkner’s estate which accused the film of copyright infringement after actor Owen Wilson paraphrased a quote from Faulkner’s classic, Requiem for a Nun.
The lawsuit first arose in October 2012 after Wilson was seen in the picture saying, “The past is not dead. Actually, it’s not even past. You know who said that? Faulkner. And he was right. And I met him, too. I ran into him at a dinner party.”
According to The Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Millis dismissed the suit Thursday saying in a statement, “The court has viewed Woody Allen's movie, Midnight in Paris, read the book, 'Requiem for a Nun,' and is thankful that the parties did not ask the court to compare 'The Sound and the Fury' with Sharknado."
"At issue in this case is whether a single line from a full-length novel singly paraphrased and attributed to the original author in a full-length Hollywood film can be considered a copyright infringement. In this case, it cannot,” the statement continues.
Lee Caplin, who oversees the estate, called the ruling “disappointing.”