Director Michael Lucas of Lucas Entertainment was sued in U.S. District Court by International Media Films, Inc., owners of the copyright to Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, over the release of Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita. The suit alleges trademark and copyright violations and seeks unspecified damages and to stop sales of the films, which were released in December. Lucas responded to the allegations in an open letter today. Lucas' letter is printed in its entirety as follows:
Hello Everyone,
Some time in December, I received a letter from the lawyers representing International Media Films asking me to cease and desist sales for Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita. My lawyers responded to them promptly, setting out clearly why the law does not prevent me from using the Fellini movie as inspiration and reinterpreting it in another time and place. My own movie features different characters, situations and a different title. Before even investing so much of my company in this movie, I had consulted with lawyers about it in order to avoid violating any laws.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about this whole thing. On one hand, I am very proud that my film is being taken so seriously by my opponent, although pornographic, I take great pride in creating high quality productions with realistic situations about the benefits of honestly enjoying your sexuality, something noticeably absent from Fellini's film. On the other hand, I can see that their actions are incredibly homophobic. There is a straight pornographic movie that was produced in Italy in 2003 called La Dolce Vita. It contains many of the same elements in the Fellini version, bears exactly the same title, and has been sold all over the world for the past four years. But International Media Films did nothing about it for years. International Media Films, apparently, feels that only my gay film, which sells for considerably more than DVDs of either Fellini's film or the straight porn film of the same name, could tarnish the reputation of the Fellini classic. This is incredibly homophobic.
What else can I tell you? No one in their right mind could confuse my movie with the Fellini movie. My movie is clearly identified as Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita. Many movies share even identical titles and no one is confused. And the content of my film is very different: the plot, the theme, the artwork, the place, the time. It takes place in New York City in the year 2006. It has an all-gay cast, with the exception of Savanna Samson. My movie celebrates homosexuality. That's in contrast to Fellini's movie, where stereotypically feminine and vulgar gay characters appear for just a few seconds. Now how many times have we seen films, commercials, and photographs which recreate the well known fountain scene from Fellini's movie? It's what we call inspiration, and there's nothing illegal about it.
Will someone confuse my version from Fellini's? Absolutely not. They are sold in different places. You will never see my movie at Barnes & Noble, and you will never see their movie at the adult video stores that sell mine. The prices are completely different, too. Mine is priced at $99 online and around $60 retail. Depending on the version, Fellini's costs significantly less. Even looking at the box covers side by side, you would hardly confuse me with Marcello Mastroianni, and the half-naked kissing guys around my image will also not confuse you to think that this is a mainstream production.
There is no denying that I have admired the filmmaking of artists like Federico Fellini, as I love movies produced in Europe in the 1960's and 1970's. I am inspired by them, and the First Amendment protects my right to comment on them by reinterpreting the themes in them for gay life in 21st Century New York. In no way is this a remake or a violation of any rights. I produced a new movie with a new script. The gay industry has a history of taking mainstream titles and making a parody of them. International Media Films clearly does not like to see the Fellini film being parodied by my commentary. But they should develop a thicker skin, rather than try to suppress my creative work.
I also believe that this also might be a publicity maneuver by International Media Films, which has proven to work on their behalf. Yesterday and today I was bombed with interview requests, from magazines to blogs. There are dozens of articles that have appeared in newspapers like the International Herald Tribune to the New York Post to Wall Street Journal, and beyond to a countless number of blogs. Fellini's La Dolce Vita, which is not very well known to the average American, was released over 40 years ago in its original Italian language. Its director and most of the stars are long dead. And now, it is getting enormous free publicity... something I know something about.
