FOX Searchlight and director Guillermo del Toro have scored a decisive knockout in the copyright lawsuit over the Oscar-winning film “The Shape of Water.” A California federal judge Tuesday rejected claims made by the family of late Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Zindel.

The lawsuit, filed on the eve of the Academy Awards this year, alleged that the film was a rip-off of Zindel’s 1969 play called “Let Me Hear You Whisper.”

“The Court concludes that although there are some minor similarities, the Film and the Book are not substantially similar to the Play,” writes U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson in Tuesday’s decision to grant dismissal without any opportunitity for an amended complaint.

In the decision, Anderson examines the plot, setting, themes, pacing, mood, dialogue and characters in the respective works. He filters out what’s not protectable before analyzing the alleged similarities.

For example, with regard to the plot, Anderson writes, “Although the Play and the Film share the basic premise of an employee at a scientific facility deciding to free a creature that is subjected to scientific experiments, that concept is too general to be protected. The same is true for the detail that the employee is moved by the subject’s impending death and the more basic idea of a person forming a connection with a non-human or animal. Other similarities stem from those basic and unprotectable elements, such as those responsible for the testing not seeing their work as harmful or wrong.”

There are also notable differences, including the main character’s relationship with the creature, the judge ruled.

(SD-Agencies)