Taylor Sheridan, Paramount and NBC Universal are facing a copyright infringement lawsuit from a writer who claims Sheridan took her idea and used it as the basis for his powerhouse series “Yellowstone.”
The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court by the screenwriter and entertainment journalist Lauren J. Salkin, claims that she submitted a pilot script, show bible and pitch deck for “Sovereign Nation,” a sprawling Western drama she had spent a decade developing, to Sheridan’s management company, Elevate Entertainment, in 2016.
“Sovereign Nation” is described in the complaint as “a dramatic television series centered on tribal governance, casino-driven economic power, and a modern war over land and development.” Both the project and the pilot script were copyrighted.
After submitting her project to Elevate Entertainment, Salkin says she received an email message in February 2017 that included the statement: “Taylor thanks you very much for your interest. Unfortunately, he’s unavailable for TV projects.”
Just over a year later, Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” series aired its first episode in June 2018.
The lawsuit also identifies several “specific expressive choices” that it claims “Yellowstone” took from “Sovereign Nation.” The complaint states: “What then appeared in ‘Yellowstone’ was not merely another Western about land or family. It included specific expressive choices already embodied in Salkin’s materials.”
Salkin alleges in the complaint that she “proposed” actors Danny Huston and Gil Birmingham as potential casting ideas for “Sovereign Nation” in her pitch deck. Both were later cast in “Yellowstone” in similar roles in the narrative.
“Copyright law does not protect the abstract idea of a Western, a land dispute, an Indian casino, or a powerful family — and that is not Plaintiff’s claim. The infringement alleged here lies in the copying of Salkin’s particular expressive choices and their coordinated selection and arrangement,” the lawsuit states.
The “Yellowstone” franchise has spawned several spinoff series including “1883,” “1923,” “Marshalls” and “Dutton Ranch,” which together have grossed billions of dollars in revenue, according to the complaint. Salkin, the lawsuit says, “has received nothing.”
Neither Sheridan, Paramount nor NBC has issued a statement regarding the lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial, an injunction barring ongoing and future copyright infringement, and an unspecified amount of damages.