Dallas Buyers Club studio suing Australians faces its own monster lawsuit involving Godzilla

THE film studio seeking to sue more than 4000 Australians is now facing its own monster lawsuit, as the makers of Godzilla take the company to court.

IN studios-in-glasshouses-shouldn’t-throw-stones news, the company behind Dallas Buyers Club seeking to sue Australians for copyright infringement is itself being sued for copyright infringement.

The lawsuit against Voltage Pictures was filed this week by the owners of Godzilla, who claim the company is engaging in behaviour that is “outrageous in the extreme” and is “brazenly producing, advertising, and selling an unauthorised Godzilla film of their own”.

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The film in question is called Colossal and would star Anne Hathaway as a woman who discovers a link between herself and a Godzilla-like giant lizard destroying Tokyo, discovering only she can stop its destruction.

Famous character ... Godzilla, a fictional character which Toho created in 1954, can be seen in through a ninth floor hotel room window at the Hotel Gracery Shinjuku in Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Voltage Pictures is currently selling potential investors on the idea at the Cannes Film Festival.

Godzilla owners Toho’s lawsuit, filed in California’s Federal Court, alleged the studio is “making a Godzilla film” using its trademark and images of the infamous giant lizard without permission.

“That anyone would engage in such blatant infringement of another’s intellectual property is wrong enough,” the lawsuit stated.

“That defendants, who are known for zealously protecting their own copyrights, would do so is outrageous in the extreme.”

Piracy hunters ... Dallas Buyers Club film owner Voltage Pictures has become known for suing internet users it alleges downloaded its film illegally.

The lawsuit is not only seeking “monetary relief” from Voltage Pictures of $US150,000 per infringement but “preliminary and permanent injunctive relief” to stop the company using any Godzilla trademarks or characters, and requests a jury trial for the matter.

The lawsuit is an ironic twist of fate for Voltage Pictures which won its Australian Federal Court case against internet service providers including iiNet in April, and will be given the details of 4726 Australians that it alleges illegally downloaded and shared its film Dallas Buyers Club.

Voltage Pictures royalties and music administration vice-president Michael Wickstrom told Triple J the company planned to send legal letters to potential copyright infringers in a “system that will become a deterrent”.

But iiNet yesterday said it would work with a law firm to deliver pro-bono legal services to those contacted by the studio.