A federal jury ruled unanimously in favor of M. Night Shyamalan and Apple on Friday, ending a copyright trial that saw the defendants accused of stealing elements from an independent horror film in the writing of the streaming series “Servant.”
The nine-day trial in Riverside, Calif. began Jan. 14. Italian-born director Francesca Gregorini sought as much as $81 million in damages, alleging that Shyamalan had lifted narrative elements of her 2013 film, “The Truth About Emanuel,” without credit. Gregorini’s film followed a delusional mother who treats a baby doll as if it were a real infant, along with a nanny who corroborates that false reality.
Gregorini testified last week that she was “shocked” when she first saw the trailer for “Servant,” and believed that her film had been stolen from her. Shyamalan testified Wednesday that he and the other creators of the show had never seen or heard of Gregorini’s film before the litigation, saying that the situation was “clearly, 100%, a misunderstanding.”
“This accusation is the exact opposite of everything I do and everything I try to represent,” he told the court.
During the trial, the jury screened the film and the first three episodes of the show at the outset of the trial. They also heard from competing experts on filmmaking and Apple’s finances.
The verdict caps a five-year legal battle. The initial suit against Apple, Shyamalan and writer Tony Basgallop, among others, was filed back in 2020, shortly after “Servant” premiered on Apple TV+ (the series has since concluded its four-season run). A federal judge initially threw out the case, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals revived it in 2022, finding a genuine dispute over whether the two works are “substantially similar.” After Apple’s motion for summary judgment in November was denied, the suit was ordered to be settled by a jury.