Screenwriter Simon Stephenson sues over alleged copying of Frisco into The Holdovers: complaint allegations

The complaint

Simon Stephenson v. Alexander Payne et al., No. 2:26-cv-12615 (C.D. Cal., Western Division), was filed October 28, 2026. The plaintiff is Simon Stephenson, an individual residing in Los Angeles, California, who the complaint describes as a screenwriter and the author and copyright owner of the feature screenplay Frisco. The named defendants are Alexander Payne, David Hemingson, and Mark Johnson, each an individual; Gran Via Productions LLC; Miramax, LLC; Honest Scholar Productions, LLC; Miramax Distribution Services, LLC; Focus Features LLC; Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC; NBCUniversal Media, LLC; and Does 1-10. The complaint runs 95 pages and demands a jury trial.

The works

The complaint asserts Stephenson's screenplay Frisco, written from his experiences as a pediatrician. It alleges the United States Copyright Office registered the first draft on March 4, 2024, as Registration No. PAU004214821, identifying Stephenson as author and copyright claimant and 2012 as the year of creation, and registered changes in the 2013 draft on September 25, 2026, as Registration No. TXu 2-566-622. It alleges The Holdovers (2023) is the film and screenplay adapted from protected expression in Frisco, and it identifies successive drafts including a May Draft, a September Draft, and an Awards Draft.

What the complaint alleges

Stephenson alleges Frisco was sent to Payne twice, through his agents in 2013 and through a producer in 2019, that Payne read it both times, and that protected expression from Frisco appears in successive drafts of The Holdovers and in the completed film. He alleges access, substantial similarity, and unauthorized derivative works. As to the second claim, he alleges Payne received copies whose title pages identified the work as Frisco and Stephenson as author, that that title and author information is copyright-management information under 17 U.S.C. § 1202(c), and he alleges, on information and belief, that Payne or someone acting at his direction intentionally removed the title page and authorship information from one or both copies, and that Payne then distributed that copy, or material taken from it, to others working on The Holdovers.

Claims and relief requested

The first claim is copyright infringement under the Copyright Act against all defendants, including allegations of direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement. The second claim is for violations of 17 U.S.C. § 1202 against Alexander Payne. The prayer asks for actual damages and attributable profits under 17 U.S.C. § 504(b) for infringement; actual damages and profits or statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. § 1203 for the 1202 claim; preliminary and permanent injunctive relief against further infringement of Frisco and further 1202 violations; other equitable relief; attorneys' fees and costs under 17 U.S.C. § 1203 and other applicable law; pre- and post-judgment interest; costs of suit; and other relief the court deems just and proper.