Paramount sued over Godfather game

When Mario Puzo sold the film rights to his critically-acclaimed novel, The Godfather, he apparently did so for a low fee; he was a young writer looking to support his family. Paramount, however, entered into an agreement with the author in 1992, stating that he would receive a healthy portion of the profits earned from any audio-visual products sold or rented containing elements of the Godfather movies. According to documents filed in the Los Angeles court system, Paramount has yet to hand over a penny to Puzo's estate in relation to EA's tie-in games. Puzo's estate is now seeking damages.

According to Reuters, the lawsuit filed against Paramount alleges that the film company owes at least $1 million in damages for breach of contract. EA's The Godfather, which hit just about every console on the market, featured a number of original cast members reprising their roles; it was released to generally solid reviews, strong sales, and even stirred up some controversy when it became the poster child for microtransactions. It's certainly a derivative work of the original IP, and it's certainly audio-visual. We'll keep an eye on the case to see if there are any developments.

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