June 7, 1996

JUDGE DECLARES RON HOWARD MOVIE COMPANY LOSER BY DEFAULT IN SCRIPT LAWSUIT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Two firefighters are winners by default in a lawsuit claiming the script of the movie "Backdraft" stole their ideas, because defense lawyers dragged their feet too long, a judge ruled.

Lawyers for director Ron Howard's production company deliberately withheld documents from U.S. Magistrate Leslie G. Foschio, U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny ruled Wednesday.

That means the only issue left to decide is the amount of damages, the Buffalo News quoted court officials as saying.

Kenneth Africano, a lawyer for Howard's company, Imagine Films Entertainment, said he planned to appeal Skretny's decision.

"Ron Howard is one of the most respected and successful directors in Hollywood, and I don't think he would stoop to stealing ideas from two unknown writers," said Africano.

"Backdraft," featuring Kurt Russell and Robert De Niro, detailed heroic exploits by a group of Chicago firefighters. It made $147 million in its first year of release in 1991, and continues earning money on television and in video sales and rentals.

Buffalo firefighter John Zoll and former city firefighter Terrence Burns claimed in their copyright infringement lawsuit against Howard and others that their own ideas were stolen by a "Backdraft" scriptwriter.

They said an agent had shown their script to the moviemakers.

Skretny, upholding an earlier ruling by Foschio, said the defense had engaged in three years of foot-dragging and showed "willful and bad faith non-compliance" with court orders.

Africano acknowledged that the movie shared some ideas with the plaintiffs' script, but said they are points that would be present in any film about firefighters.

Jeremiah McCarthy, an attorney for Zoll and Burns, said there are over 100 similarities between the draft his clients purportedly wrote and the movie.