Apple and director M. Night Shyamalan have successfully defended their streaming thriller series, Servant, against a major legal challenge. A federal appeals court just ruled in their favor, officially ending a long dispute over the storyline of the hit show “Servant.” This final decision protects the technology company from paying out millions in damages and officially clears the show creators of any claims related to copying a movie plot.
The lawsuit claimed the streaming series copied an independent film
Italian film director Francesca Gregorini originally filed a lawsuit claiming that the popular Apple TV program borrowed heavily from her 2013 movie titled “The Truth About Emanuel.” She asked for as much as $81 million in financial damages from the creators and the parent company. The television show follows a Philadelphia couple who face a strange supernatural force after suffering a terrible tragedy.
A jury looked at the case early last year and decided that the people who made the show did not watch the independent film before writing their own story. All jurors agreed that the two projects were created completely separately. The psychological thriller went on to run for four full seasons before concluding its story in 2023.
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Appeals court upholds the original jury decision for the show
After losing the initial trial, the movie director filed an appeal to keep the case alive. She argued that the judge gave the jury bad instructions about how widely her film was distributed. She also complained about how the judge accepted the final verdict without answering a specific question from a juror.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reviewed these complaints and rejected both arguments. The court stated that the jury instructions matched the law and that the trial judge handled the questions correctly. This ruling closes the door on the copyright battle and gives the streaming platform a clear legal victory to protect its original entertainment catalog.
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