USTA sues over ‘Venus and Serena’ documentary

The U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) is filing a lawsuit against filmmakers who are making a movie about Venus and Serena Williams, citing a misuse of its intellectual property.

According to an article in USA Today, the USTA claims that "Venus and Serena" filmmakers Maiken Baird and Michelle Major used copyrighted images of U.S. Open footage in the film, which is scheduled to be released on Showtime on July 1, after hitting theaters in May and iTunes in April.

In the lawsuit filed in White Plains, New York, the USTA said that it had expected the filmmakers to enter the "standard footage license agreement" when the organization allowed them to film the tennis star sisters. This included payment of "standard licensing fees for footage."

Since the USTA alleged that it had not received any payment, it was "stunned to discover" that the film had been finished and was being distributed with more than four times the amount of footage that would have been allowed under the agreement.

Meanwhile, Baird and Major argue that the USTA is trying to censor their work.

"We're shocked by this shameful effort to interfere with telling the story of the two most iconic female athletes in American history—a film that they have supported and collaborated on for years," the pair wrote in a statement. "The USTA's bizarre efforts to erase history and also claim control of our own film footage as part of their censorship effort is particularly outrageous."

Controversies over intellectual property often threaten the completion of documentaries as organizations seek payment for what is theirs. These are situations in which a Phoenix small business attorney could help find a dispute resolution.

Categorised in: Intellectual Property Law

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