A legal battle kicked off earlier this year over who actually created the iconic Ghostface mask immortalized in horror history by the Scream franchise, with Los Angeles effects company Alterian Ghost Factory asserting that they actually first created the mask design that is owned by Fun World and licensed to Paramount and Spyglass for the Scream movies.
You can read all about the legal battle right here, but the long story short is that Spyglass and Paramount Pictures were suing Alterian after Alterian threatened copyright infringement litigation just before the release of Scream 7 in theaters. The idea was to obtain a court order to prevent Alterian from suing, calling the litigation “an outrageous attempt to shake down.”
After Spyglass and Paramount sued to prevent the “shake down” from Alterian, Alterian then counter-sued Paramount, Spyglass and Fun World for copyright infringement.
Alterian’s argument was that they are the true creators of the mask that became known as Ghostface, which was later copied by Fun World. For what it’s worth, that does indeed seem to be the case. Watch the YouTube video The Sad Story of Ghostface’s Mask for more on that.
“Despite stringing along Alterian for more than a year with enticements of brokering a mutually acceptable resolution, Defendants — goliaths in the industry — shamelessly continue to rip off and profit from Alterian’s creative work with impunity,” Alterian explained in their complaint.
The good news? Reuters reports this week, “Paramount Skydance and film producer Spyglass Media Group have settled a dispute with Hollywood makeup and special-effects studio Alterian over the rights to the Ghostface mask from Paramount and Spyglass’ Scream horror movie series, according to a filing in California federal court.”
“The parties told a judge in Los Angeles on Wednesday that they have resolved their dispute and will dismiss their lawsuits against each other,” the report from Reuters continues.
Top horror franchises including Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street have similarly been caught up in legal battles, but it looks like Scream‘s were thankfully short-lived.
All is well in the world of Ghostface. Well, mostly…
