A lawsuit has been filed by Lava Media against Hollywood producer John Hart, alleging that he violated a 2013 settlement agreement over the rights to the movie adaptation of “The White Tiger”. Lava Media claims that Hart and his company at the time gave up their rights to the movie adaptation and the right to sue over the movie in exchange for “substantial payments”.
However, the day before the Jan. 22, 2021, release of the movie on Netflix, Hart filed suit in India’s Dehli High Court seeking to stop the movie from coming out. The suit claims that John Hart was still interested in the motion picture adaptation despite the 2013 settlement, which violates the agreement.
Hart, who produced films such as “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Revolutionary Road,” allegedly “egregiously claimed that he still had an interest in the motion picture adaptation”. The high court rejected Hart’s bid for an emergency ruling, which still plays out in India. Meanwhile, “The White Tiger” was released and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2021.
Lava Media claims that it has incurred “attorney’s fees now well over one hundred thousand dollars” to fight the case in India and that its relationship with Netflix was damaged. Hart’s “India lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt to extort money from Lava Media with the anticipated release of the movie expected to be financially successful,” the Manhattan filing charges.
Lava is suing for unspecified damages. Lava attorney Brian Brick told The Post that “The reality is this lawsuit didn’t just breach the contract, but they interfered with the relationship that Lava has with Netflix”. “Netflix had to deal with this nonsense,” Brick said.
Hart told The Post Monday that he won the rights to produce the movie in a 2009 agreement but that he and another producer were “defrauded” into “an elaborate labyrinth of incomplete and invalid agreements.” He claims that Netflix and Lava founder Mukul Deora “unilaterally and illegally” changed that agreement in 2018 without signatures from him or his companies. “Netflix and Mukul Deora made The White Tiger illegally by blatant copyright theft in plain sight in this manner,” he said.
»Lava Media files lawsuit against Hollywood producer John Hart«
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