SHORT TAKES : Eddie Murphy Wins by Default
Eddie Murphy, his production company, and Paramount Pictures won a victory Tuesday when a Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit over the movie “Coming to America.”
The lawsuit was filed in August, 1989, by Oman Oba Adele Mouftaou Lassine Osseni-Bellow, also known as Prince Johnny Osseni-Bellow. The plaintiff claimed in his suit that Murphy, Eddie Murphy Productions Inc., and Paramount Pictures Corp. used his story idea to produce a film about an African prince coming to America.
Judge Philip Saeta dismissed the state court case when Osseni-Bellow failed to appear in court for a scheduled hearing.
The lawsuit was similar to another action in federal court, also involving Osseni-Bellow and a Canadian writer, Shelby Gregory. That lawsuit, a copyright action over “Coming to America,” involved the same allegations as the state suit and already has been dismissed.
Neither lawsuit was related to the celebrated action over “Coming to America” by columnist Art Buchwald.
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