jazzyken
01-27-2005, 05:14 PM
Subject: Black Author wins The Matrix Copyright Infringement Case
>
> This little known story has met a just conclusion, as Sophia Stewart,
> African American author of The Matrix will finally receive her just
> due from the copyright infringement of her original work!!!
>
> Monday, October 4th 2004 ended a six-year dispute involving Sophia
> Stewart, the Wachowski Brothers, Joel Silver and Warner Brothers.
> Stewart's allegations, involving copyright infringement and
> racketeering, were received and acknowledged by the Central District
> of California, Judge Margaret Morrow residing.
>
> Stewart, a New Yorker who has resided in Salt Lake City for the past
> five years, will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and
> III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels. She will soon receive
> one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood, as the gross
> receipts of both films and their sequels total over 2.5 billion
> dollars.
>
> Stewart filed her case in 1999, after viewing the Matrix, which she
> felt had been based on her manuscript, "The Third Eye," copyrighted
> in 1981. In the mid-eighties Stewart had submitted her manuscript to
> an ad placed by the Wachowski Brothers, requesting new sci-fi works.
>
> According to court documentation, an FBI investigation discovered
> that more than thirty minutes had been edited from the original film,
> in an attempt to avoid penalties for copyright infringement. The
> investigation also stated that "credible witnesses employed at Warner
> Brothers came forward, claiming that the executives and lawyers had
> full knowledge that the work in question did not belong to the
> Wachowski Brothers." These witnesses claimed to have seen Stewart's
> original work and that it had been "often used during preparation of
> the motion pictures." The defendants tried, on several occasions, to
> have Stewart's case dismissed, without success.
>
> Stewart has confronted skepticism on all sides, much of which comes
> from Matrix fans, who are strangely loyal to the Wachowski Brothers.
> One on-line forum, entitled Matrix Explained has an entire section
> devoted to Stewart. Some who have researched her history and writings
> are open to her story. Others are suspicious and mocking. "It doesn't
> bother me," said Stewart in a phone interview last week, "I always
> knew what was true."
>
> Some fans, are unaware of the case or they question its legitimacy,
> due to the fact that it has received little to no media coverage.
> Though the case was not made public until October of 2003, Stewart
> has her own explanation, as quoted at aghettotymz.com:
>
> "The reason you have not seen any of this in the media is because
> Warner Brothers parent company is AOL-Time Warner... this GIANT owns
> 95 percent of the media... let me give you a clue as to what they own
> in the media business... New York Times papers/magazines, LA Times
> papers/magazines, People Magazine, CNN news, Extra, Celebrity
> Justice, Entertainment Tonight, HBO, New Line Cinema, Dreamworks,
> Newsweek, Village Roadshow... many, many more!... They are not going
> to report on themselves. They have been surpressing my case for
> years..."
>
> Fans who have taken Stewart's allegations seriously, have found eerie
> mythological parallels, which seem significant in a case that
> revolves around the highly metaphorical and symbolic Matrix series.
> Sophia, the Greek goddess of wisdom has been referenced many times in
> speculation about Stewart. In one book about the Goddess Sophia, it
> reads, "The black goddess is the mistress of web creation spun in her
> divine matrix"
>
> Although there have been outside implications as to racial injustice
> (Stewart is African American), she does not feel that this is the
> case. "This is all about the Benjamins," said Stewart. "It's not
> about money with me. It's about justice."
>
> Stewart's future plans involve a record label, entitled Popsilk
> Records, and a motion picture production company, All Eyez On Me, in
> reference to God. "I wrote The Third Eye to wake people up, to remind
> them why God put them here. There's more to life than money," said
> Stewart. "My whole to the world is about God and good and about
> choice, about spirituality over 'technocracy'"
>
> If Stewart represents spirituality, then she truly has prevailed over
> the "technocracy" represented in both the Terminator and the Matrix,
> and now, ironically, by their supposed creators.
>
> Stewart is currently having discussions with CBS about a possible
> exclusive story and has several media engagements in the near future
> to nationally publicize her victory.
> June 13th 2004. Sophia Stewart's press release read: "The Matrix &
> Terminator movie franchises have made world history and have
> ultimately changed the way people view movies and how Hollywood does
> business, yet the real truth about the creator and creation of these
> films continue to elude the masses because the hidden secret of the
> matter is that these films were created and written by a Black
> woman... a Black woman named Sophia Stewart. But Hollywood does not
> want you to know this fact simply because it would change history.
> Also it would encourage our Black children to realize a dream and
> that is... nothing is impossible for them to achieve!"
>
> This little known story has met a just conclusion, as Sophia Stewart,
> African American author of The Matrix will finally receive her just
> due from the copyright infringement of her original work!!!
>
> Monday, October 4th 2004 ended a six-year dispute involving Sophia
> Stewart, the Wachowski Brothers, Joel Silver and Warner Brothers.
> Stewart's allegations, involving copyright infringement and
> racketeering, were received and acknowledged by the Central District
> of California, Judge Margaret Morrow residing.
>
> Stewart, a New Yorker who has resided in Salt Lake City for the past
> five years, will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and
> III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels. She will soon receive
> one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood, as the gross
> receipts of both films and their sequels total over 2.5 billion
> dollars.
>
> Stewart filed her case in 1999, after viewing the Matrix, which she
> felt had been based on her manuscript, "The Third Eye," copyrighted
> in 1981. In the mid-eighties Stewart had submitted her manuscript to
> an ad placed by the Wachowski Brothers, requesting new sci-fi works.
>
> According to court documentation, an FBI investigation discovered
> that more than thirty minutes had been edited from the original film,
> in an attempt to avoid penalties for copyright infringement. The
> investigation also stated that "credible witnesses employed at Warner
> Brothers came forward, claiming that the executives and lawyers had
> full knowledge that the work in question did not belong to the
> Wachowski Brothers." These witnesses claimed to have seen Stewart's
> original work and that it had been "often used during preparation of
> the motion pictures." The defendants tried, on several occasions, to
> have Stewart's case dismissed, without success.
>
> Stewart has confronted skepticism on all sides, much of which comes
> from Matrix fans, who are strangely loyal to the Wachowski Brothers.
> One on-line forum, entitled Matrix Explained has an entire section
> devoted to Stewart. Some who have researched her history and writings
> are open to her story. Others are suspicious and mocking. "It doesn't
> bother me," said Stewart in a phone interview last week, "I always
> knew what was true."
>
> Some fans, are unaware of the case or they question its legitimacy,
> due to the fact that it has received little to no media coverage.
> Though the case was not made public until October of 2003, Stewart
> has her own explanation, as quoted at aghettotymz.com:
>
> "The reason you have not seen any of this in the media is because
> Warner Brothers parent company is AOL-Time Warner... this GIANT owns
> 95 percent of the media... let me give you a clue as to what they own
> in the media business... New York Times papers/magazines, LA Times
> papers/magazines, People Magazine, CNN news, Extra, Celebrity
> Justice, Entertainment Tonight, HBO, New Line Cinema, Dreamworks,
> Newsweek, Village Roadshow... many, many more!... They are not going
> to report on themselves. They have been surpressing my case for
> years..."
>
> Fans who have taken Stewart's allegations seriously, have found eerie
> mythological parallels, which seem significant in a case that
> revolves around the highly metaphorical and symbolic Matrix series.
> Sophia, the Greek goddess of wisdom has been referenced many times in
> speculation about Stewart. In one book about the Goddess Sophia, it
> reads, "The black goddess is the mistress of web creation spun in her
> divine matrix"
>
> Although there have been outside implications as to racial injustice
> (Stewart is African American), she does not feel that this is the
> case. "This is all about the Benjamins," said Stewart. "It's not
> about money with me. It's about justice."
>
> Stewart's future plans involve a record label, entitled Popsilk
> Records, and a motion picture production company, All Eyez On Me, in
> reference to God. "I wrote The Third Eye to wake people up, to remind
> them why God put them here. There's more to life than money," said
> Stewart. "My whole to the world is about God and good and about
> choice, about spirituality over 'technocracy'"
>
> If Stewart represents spirituality, then she truly has prevailed over
> the "technocracy" represented in both the Terminator and the Matrix,
> and now, ironically, by their supposed creators.
>
> Stewart is currently having discussions with CBS about a possible
> exclusive story and has several media engagements in the near future
> to nationally publicize her victory.
> June 13th 2004. Sophia Stewart's press release read: "The Matrix &
> Terminator movie franchises have made world history and have
> ultimately changed the way people view movies and how Hollywood does
> business, yet the real truth about the creator and creation of these
> films continue to elude the masses because the hidden secret of the
> matter is that these films were created and written by a Black
> woman... a Black woman named Sophia Stewart. But Hollywood does not
> want you to know this fact simply because it would change history.
> Also it would encourage our Black children to realize a dream and
> that is... nothing is impossible for them to achieve!"