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Steven Spielberg Sued for $10 Million Over 'Jurassic World'

Home / The Law / Steven Spielberg Sued for $10 Million Over 'Jurassic World'

By TheBlast Staff on October 30, 2018 at 12:13 AM EDT

"Jurassic World" producers allegedly breached a deal over the use of a slogan used to promote the movie and now they are being sued for over $10 million.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Frederick Zaccheo says he entered into a deal with Universal City Studios and Steven Spielberg's company, Amblin Entertainment, giving them the right to use the slogan "Save the Dinos" as part of a marketing campaign for the movie.

The slogan was used in a series of viral videos featuring Bryce Dallas Howard's character in the movie, Claire Dearing, and a fictional organization called the Dinosaur Protection Group.

!youtube-embed(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX8NZdZ3GMQ&feature=youtu.be)

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Zaccheo claims he was contacted by attorneys for Universal and Amblin in the summer of 2017 about using the slogan. They struck a deal for $50,000 but Zacchelo claims he insisted they not use "SAVE THE DINOS to sell clothing ... and not use SAVE THE DINOS to promote competing charitable, environmental, animal rights or endangered species efforts."

He also says the agreement made certain that any merchandising done for the film using the slogan always had to use it "in connection with the other branding associated with the JURASSIC PARK / JURASSIC WORLD franchise."

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Zaccheo says he wanted to avoid the "use of the phrase in connection with the upcoming film, and its anticipated massive advertising and marketing campaigns and substantial merchandising efforts, to interfere with his project and its goals."

Lo and behold, Zaccheo claims Universal and Amblin breached the deal by selling shirts, socks and other clothing items with just the slogan on them and nothing else, much like his own Dinosaur Project merchandise (see below).

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Jurassic World Sued Dinosaur Project
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TheBlast.com

Zaccheo is suing for breach of contract and trademark infringement and is seeking damages in excess of $10 million.

The Blast reached out to Amblin and Universal for comment — so far, no word back.

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