The alleged copyright holder of Federico Fellini's 1960 classic La Dolce Vita has lost a legal challenge against the director/star of a gay film of the same name.
Bosses at International Media Films (IMF) took adult film producer/actor Michael Lucas to court in an attempt to prove that his film, a gay take on the Fellini's work, violated their copyright, reports Advocate.com.
But New York federal judge John G. Koeltl ruled that IMF's legal team had failed "to show that it has sufficient admissible evidence from which a reasonable fact finder could conclude that it was the copyright owner of the Fellini film."
Koeltl concluded, "In fact, it is possible for the Fellini film to be in the public domain."
And Lucas is celebrating after his triumph: "I can only guess at my opponents' motivations, but if they thought that they could get a quick payday by walking all over a porn company, they were sorely mistaken. I am very proud that my company had the professionalism, the quality legal advice and the financial resources to stand up to this bullying."