1 week ago
Writer Accuses Taylor Sheridan of Stealing Yellowstone Concept
A writer named Lauren J. Salkin has filed a copyright lawsuit.
She says she shared an idea for a Western television show called Sovereign Nation in 2016.
She claims Taylor Sheridan and others later used parts of that idea for Yellowstone.
Salkin says both stories feature a tribal casino as an important center of power.
She also points to similar land deals, conflicts and dramatic scenes.
Her lawyers say the similarities are more specific than normal Western-story ideas.
Two actors she says she proposed for Sovereign Nation later appeared in Yellowstone.
The accusations have not been proven in court.
Writer Lauren J. Salkin sued Taylor Sheridan, 101 Studios, Paramount and Elevate Entertainment.
Salkin alleges she pitched her Western drama Sovereign Nation to Elevate Entertainment in 2016.
The lawsuit claims Yellowstone was developed and greenlit within months of her pitch’s rejection.
Salkin cites similarities involving casino-centered political power, land development and territorial conflict.
Her complaint also points to Danny Huston and Gil Birmingham being proposed for her project and later appearing in Yellowstone.
- Who
- Writer Lauren J. Salkin is suing Taylor Sheridan, 101 Studios, Paramount and Elevate Entertainment.
- What
- Salkin alleges that her copyrighted pitch for Sovereign Nation was used to develop Yellowstone.
- Where
- The pitch was submitted to Elevate Entertainment, and Yellowstone first aired on Paramount Network.
- When
- Salkin says she made the pitch in 2016; Yellowstone premiered on June 20, 2018, and the lawsuit was filed on Friday.
- Why
- Salkin claims the defendants copied specific creative elements, including the role of a tribal casino, land-development mechanisms and parallel character roles.
Key facts
- Plaintiff
- Lauren J. Salkin
- Defendants
- Taylor Sheridan, 101 Studios, Paramount and Elevate Entertainment
- Pitched project
- Sovereign Nation
- Pitch year
- 2016
- Yellowstone premiere
- June 20, 2018, on Paramount Network
- Actors cited
- Danny Huston and Gil Birmingham
- Legal status
- The allegations have not been proven in court.
Quotes
Elevate Entertainment
The management company that allegedly responded to Salkin’s 2016 pitch
“When the works are objectively compared, the same coordinated design repeatedly appears: casino-centered institutions organize political power; the same unusual land-development mechanisms propel the conflict; parallel scenes perform the same dramatic functions; and the same actors appear in materially parallel roles. These are not merely convergences of a shared genre.”
livemint.com
“Sheridan, however, was not ‘unavailable for TV projects,’ Instead, he and others used Salkin’s copyrighted works to develop Yellowstone.”
livemint.com
Sources
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