It seems that members of the Hitchcock estate do occasionally rent new DVDs - that's the only explanation for this out of the blue lawsuit, which is accusing Dreamworks of copyright infringement for Disturbia's similarities to Rear Window.
If you've seen Disturbia you probably assumed it was a remake of Rear Window anyway, which itself was based on the short story 'Murder from a Fixed Viewpoint,' by Cornell Woolrich.
Which is where the problems kick in. James Stewart and Hitch bought the rights to the story before they started production on Window, the boys at Dreamworks didn't.
"What the defendants have been unwilling to do openly, legitimately and legally, (they) have done surreptitiously, by their back-door use of the 'Rear Window' story without paying compensation," the lawsuit filed by the Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust said.
[Source: Reuters ]
