Universal, Smash Pictures Settle Copyright Dispute

Universal Studios and the copyright holder of the "Fifty Shades of Grey" books have settled a copyright infringement lawsuit with a Chatsworth adult movie company over a porn parody of the steamy bestsellers, court papers obtained Tuesday show.

Universal, which owns the movie rights, and Fifty Shades Ltd. contended in the federal suit filed last November that Smash Pictures of Chatsworth violated copyright and trademark laws by issuing "Fifty Shades of Grey: a XXX Adaptation."

According to the lawsuit, the triple-X parody is a "willful attempt to capitalize on the reputation of the book."'

The E.L. James novel tells of an affair between a literature student and a young entrepreneur.

A notice of settlement filed with the court states that an agreement was reached upon "payment of a confidential sum by Smash Pictures to plaintiffs and upon entry by the court of a stipulated judgment for permanent injunction with respect to plaintiffs' claims for copyright and trademark infringement."

No further details of the settlement were disclosed.

The plaintiffs alleged that by using "exact dialogue, characters, events, story and style from the 'Fifty Shades' trilogy, Smash Pictures ensured that the first XXX adaptation was, in fact, as close as possible to the original works," and they sought a judge's order halting its sale and unspecified monetary damages.

Luv Moves, which apparently packaged the DVD with sex toys in a gift box titled "Fifty Shades of Pleasure: Play Kit & Movie," was also named in the suit.