Maclean's columnist Eckler sues Hollywood over Knocked Up

Maclean's (and Globe and Mail and formerly National Post) columnist Rebecca Eckler is suing the producer of the movie Knocked Up for having ripped off her book of the same name (Knocked Up: Confessions of a Hip Mother). In an article in Maclean's, she says she is continuing to pursue Universal and Judd Apatow, despite several setbacks such as being "dumped" by a Los Angeles lawyer.

In recent weeks, nine out of every 10 people who have spoken to me have asked me if Knocked Up was "my" movie. And anyone I show both the copy of the screenplay and the cover of my book to immediately says, "There's no way they didn't steal this!"

While acknowledging you cannot copyright a title or an illustration (a martini glass with a baby soother around the stem), Eckler says she has a moral case to be made. But she also seems to be saying that she is legally outgunned and feeling a little sorry for herself. It's not clear whether she will pursue things because her column in places talks about the suit in the past tense.

Here's what it comes down to: 1) Being a writer, especially a Canadian one, without access to an unlimited bank account, sucks. 2) Copyright infringement is highly technical and difficult to prove. 3) Universal / Apatow know they have resources I do not have, and that every time they simply do not return my lawyer's phone call, it costs me money.

Eckler has a reputation for strip-mining her life for every shred of self-promotion possible (see her baby blog Nine Pound Dictator) and for being a major drama queen. Perhaps winning a lawsuit would be nice. But being at the centre of such a controversy, even if it doesn't amount to anything, will probably have to do.

[UPDATE: In the Huffington Post, Andi Zeisler does a little Eckler-bashing:

I'm not ashamed to say I'm reveling in the schadenfreudeliciousness of this development. You would be, too, if you'd suffered through the entire experience of Knocked Up, the book, whose vapid prose stylings and vast sense of entitlement make Carrie Bradshaw sound like Emma Goldman.]