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A lawsuit filed in federal court on Friday accuses writer and director Taylor Sheridan of stealing the idea for his powerhouse success “Yellowstone” from Lauren J. Salkin, a Virginia-based journalist and screenwriter.
Requests for comment from representatives for Sheridan, Paramount and NBCUniversal, all among those named as defendants in the lawsuit, were not immediately returned on Saturday.
The lawsuit says that Salkin spent more than 10 years developing a series to be called “Sovereign Nation,” which is described as “a dramatic television series centered on tribal governance, casino-driven economic power, and a modern war over land and development” with the overall project copyrighted beginning in 2010 and a specific pilot script copyrighted in 2016.
‘Yellowstone’ creator Taylor Sheridan will move his overall deal to NBCUniversal in 2029 after his deal with Paramount concludes at the end of 2028.
Having submitted the project to Sheridan’s management company, Elevate Entertainment, in February 2017, according to the filing, Salkin later received an email message that included the statement, “Taylor thanks you very much for your interest. Unfortunately, he’s unavailable for TV projects.”
Soon after, Paramount greenlit Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” project, with the first episode airing on June 20, 2018.
The lawsuit goes on to catalog a list of similarities between “Sovereign Nation” and “Yellowstone,” stating, “What then appeared in ‘Yellowstone’ was not merely another Western about land or family. It included specific expressive choices already embodied in Salkin’s materials.”
Actors Gil Birmingham and Danny Huston were mentioned in Salkin’s original pitch deck as potential casting ideas for her show. Both would later appear on “Yellowstone.” The lawsuit goes on to say that the subsequent “Yellowstone” spinoffs “1883,” “1923,” “Marshalls” and “Dutton Ranch” are therefore also based on Salkin’s work.
The lawsuit states, “Copyright law does not protect the abstract idea of a Western, a land dispute, an Indian casino, or a powerful family — and that is not Plaintiff’s claim. The infringement alleged here lies in the copying of Salkin’s particular expressive choices and their coordinated selection and arrangement.”
The lawsuit asks for a jury trial, an injunction against ongoing and future copyright infringement and unspecified damages.
“Yellowstone” ran for five seasons from 2018-2024. Sheridan, who is also behind shows such as “Tulsa King,” “Landman” and “Mayor of Kingston,” is set to move his production company from Paramount to NBCUniversal in 2029. Sheridan was also nominated for an Academy Award in 2017 for best original screenplay for the neo-western “Hell or High Water.”