More on the lawsuit

n The Land of Blood & Lawsuits: Jolie, GK Films and FilmDistrict Sued Over Film's Similarities to Croatian Book

News by Sophia Savage | December 6, 2011 | 

Jolie on the set of "In The Land of Blood and Honey"

Angelina Jolie (along with GK Films, FilmDistrict and Scout Film) is being sued. Croatian journalist James Braddock alleges that her film, "In The Land of Blood and Honey," has similarities with his 2007 book, "The Soul Shattering." For two years beginning in 2008, he states that he consulted with Edin Sarkic, a co-producer on the film (on points including "plot and character development and the story's cultural significance and historical accuracy"). The two allegedly discussed the possibility of adapting his book, but that's as far as it went until Braddock learned of Jolie's film. Among the alledged similarities between the book and the film: the Bosnian war backdrop, a captured female prisoner raped by soldiers and a Serbian commander who falls in love with her and aids her escape. This sort of thing comes up all the time and is hard to prove. As THR puts it, if Braddock's case can prove "substantial similarity in expression, not merely the use of unprotectable ideas," then Jolie & Co. may not have such a Merry Christmas; Braddock seeks not only statutory damages but an injuction on the release, which is slated for December 23. In talking to press, Jolie has been open to questions and feedback to make the film as accurate as possible. She says that she wrote the script over the course of a month during a flu-induced quarantine in the attic of her house in France.
If this website is the real deal, Braddock, aka Josip J. Knezevic, lays it all out in an angry statement, in which he states "her idea is nothing but a doctored version of my novel," and that "she played with my novel by dissecting and reducing it into a banal love story that would be impossible during the war." Newsweek's Janine di Giovanni, who herself lived through the siege of Sarajevo in the early 1990s, states that she scanned the film with a critical eye for anything inauthentic and was impressed.
Here's more on the lawsuit, the film and Jolie on 60 Minutes.

Angelina Jolie Sued For Copyright Infringement Over New Film

11:47 AM PST 12/5/2011 by Eriq Gardner

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Just weeks before Angelina Jolie is scheduled to release her directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, the actress/filmmaker has been sued by Croatian journalist James Braddock, who claims the forthcoming movie about a love affair during the Bosnian Civil War violates his copyright on a book, The Soul Shattering.

Braddock is demanding statutory damages plus an injunction against the film's release.
Jolie is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and she certainly travels far and wide promoting humanitarian causes, but what is the likelihood she had seen Braddock's original book, which was published in Croatian in 2007? According to Braddock's lawsuit, the key figure might be an individual named Edin Sarkic, a co-defendant in the lawsuit who served as one of the film's producers and has been credited in the press with helping Jolie attain the necessary permits to film in Sarajevo.
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Braddock claims that after publishing his book in 2007, he traveled to Sarajevo to promote his work and create awareness for Bosnian war victims. There, he says he was allegedly approached by Sarkic, who told Braddock that he read The Soul Shattering and wanted to meet to discuss the book in further detail. Braddock and Sarkic allegedly met three more times in 2008 to discuss details about the book, "including plot and character development and the story's cultural significance and historical accuracy."
The discussions are said to have evolved into the possibility of creating a film adaptation of the book. The two kept in touch over telephone and text messages over the next two years. Braddock also says he e-mailed an individual at one of Jolie's charities to propose a collaboration on a project to build villages across Sarajevo and New Orleans.
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Then, Braddock says he learned of Jolie's movie. He details some of the similarities, including the backdrop of war-torn Bosnia and Herzogovina in the early 1990s, a main female character who is captured and imprisoned and raped by soldiers, and a Serbian camp commander who falls in love with the woman and helps her escape.
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It'll be up to a judge to determine whether the claimed "obvious" similarities meet the high threshold needed to prove copyright infringement. Braddock's lawyer, Kelly Saindon, will have to demonstrate substantial similarity in expression, not merely the use of unprotectable ideas. Besides Jolie and Sarkic, the other defendants are GK Films, FilmDistrict, and Scout Film. The film is scheduled to be released on December 23.