Report – “Ballers” suit against HBO & The Rock dismissed in L.A. court

By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

The Rock (artist Travis Beaven © PWTorch)

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The lawsuit against HBO, “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson, Mark Wahlberg, and others related to the “Ballers” TV series was dismissed in Los Angeles court on Monday morning, reports Deadline.com.

Writers Everette Silas and Sherri Littleton sued HBO, Rock, et al in 2015, claiming copyright infringement. The duo argued that HBO’s team took their idea for “Off Season.”

Judge George Wu disagreed with the Plaintiffs, granting a motion for the suit to be dismissed after comparing the HBO series and the “Off Season” script.

On June 3, attorneys for HBO, Rock, et al filed a motion seeking the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California dismiss the suit, arguing that “Ballers and Off Season are not substantially similar in protected elements.” The argument broke down their claimed differences between Plot, Theme, Characters, Setting, Mood, Pace, Dialogue, and Sequence of Events.

The hearing on the motion was originally scheduled for July 11, then was pushed back to July 18 and pushed back again to Monday (July 25).

“Ballers” is now in the clear after premiering Season 2 of the series starring The Rock.

The entire list of entities sued by Silas & Littleton included HBO, Rock, Rock’s production company Seven Bucks Entertainment, Mark Wahlberg, Ballers executive producer Stephen Levinson, and corporations “Leverage Management” and “Does 1-10.”

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