Pasadena Appeals Court Won't Shoot Down Paramount Win in `Top Gun' Lawsuit

LOS ANGELES, CA — A federal appeals panel in Pasadena Friday affirmed Paramount Pictures' win in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by the family of a writer whose magazine article inspired the 1986 Tom Cruise blockbuster "Top Gun."

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Los Angeles court's 2024 ruling granting Paramount's request for summary judgment on the family's infringement and breach of contract claims involving the 2022 sequel, "Top Gun: Maverick."

Ehud Yonay — whose 1983 piece about the Top Gun school at Miramar Naval Air Station for California magazine inspired the original film starring Cruise and Kelly McGillis — died in 2012.

His family filed suit in June 2022, alleging copyright infringement over that year's sequel. In the complaint, the author's widow, Shosh Yonay, and son, Yuval Yonay, alleged they filed notice years earlier with the studio reclaiming the copyright to the article, but Paramount did not obtain a new license to use the material.

In his written ruling, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson granted summary judgment to the studio and dismissed the case, finding that elements from the sequel, such as plot, theme, setting and dialogue, are "largely dissimilar" from Ehud Yonay's article. The court also determined that any overlapping factual similarities aren't protected by copyright law.

The suit sought monetary damages and an injunction barring Paramount from distributing the film or any further sequels.

The appeals panel affirmed Anderson's conclusion that "Top Gun: Maverick" did not share substantial amounts of the original magazine article and found that the plaintiffs had failed to establish a triable issue as to "substantial similarity," as required to establish copyright infringement.

With Cruise at the helm, "Top Gun: Maverick" grossed $1.5 billion worldwide, becoming Cruise's biggest film, and is the 12th highest-grossing film ever, according to Box Office Mojo.

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