Michael Mann Seeks to Reclaim Rights to Original ‘Heat’ Screenplay

Michael Mann, who is set to begin shooting the long-awaited “Heat 2” in January, is in a legal dispute with New Regency as he seeks to reclaim the copyright to his screenplay for the original film.

New Regency produced “Heat,” released in 1995. The company filed a lawsuit on Friday arguing that it still owns the copyright to the original screenplay.

Earlier this year, Mann’s lawyers sent termination notices invoking the right to reclaim the copyright. New Regency argues that the screenplay was a “work made for hire,” and is thus ineligible for copyright termination.

New Regency argues that Mann’s termination action clouds its ownership of the original “Heat,” and is seeking a declaration that the termination notices are void.

Mann’s lawyers intend to fight the lawsuit “vigorously,” his reps said in a statement.

“We will vigorously defend this action and are confident that the courts will vindicate Michael Mann’s statutory rights under the Copyright Act,” a spokesperson said. “This filing has to do with original and personal writing Michael Mann did on multiple screenplays during the 1980s and which evolved into the iconic 1995 film ‘Heat’ that Mann wrote, produced and directed. After 40 years Michael Mann is exercising the right of authors to reclaim their work and in this case Michael Mann’s original creation.”

Mann developed the characters and the story that would become “Heat” over two decades, beginning in the 1970s. According to the lawsuit, Warner Bros. acquired the rights to the “Heat” screenplay in 1994 in a deal with Mann’s loan-out company. The suit alleges that deal was explicitly a “work made for hire” agreement — not an assignment of rights — and that therefore it cannot be terminated.

Authors are allowed to terminate assignments of rights after 35 years under the Copyright Act.

According to the suit, Mann’s lawyers initially told New Regency that Mann had assigned his rights to his loan-out companies in 1988, and was thus seeking to terminate that agreement. New Regency sought a copy of that agreement, and was told it was an oral agreement, the suit states.

“The Oral Assignment on which the First Termination Notice is based supposedly derives from an oral agreement that Mann allegedly made with himself, in which Mann, like a Shakespearean actor playing multiple parts, simultaneously spoke on his own individual behalf, as well as on behalf of MMCo. and ZZY,” the lawsuit states.

Two subsequent termination notices were submitted cited other agreements, both of which New Regency claims are also invalid.

Warner Bros. was originally set to produce “Heat 2,” but backed out of the project last year. Amazon MGM Studios has since acquired the film. Both Mann and New Regency have done deals with Amazon that account for the copyright dispute, with Mann assigning any rights he may reclaim to Amazon, according to the complaint.

In other words, however the dispute comes out, “Heat 2” should be unaffected.

“For clarification, this is unrelated to production of Heat 2 which will begin shooting on January 19,” Mann’s rep said in a statement.