In a statement released late last week, director Michael Lucas accused Raging Stallion Studios of being the source behind incorrect information that has fueled the trademark and copyright infringement lawsuit against him for his Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita film. “It’s been nearly a year since this baseless, pointless, frivolous lawsuit has been torturing me and my employees,” Lucas writes. “Demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars, my accusers have on numerous occasions claimed that they know that my film made millions of dollars for me, citing a ‘very reliable source,’ that knows the industry from within. I viewed this as mere gossip, but my accusers chose to believe it, despite my repeated offers to let my accusers’ accountants review our books and see the earnings of my films for themselves. Under pressure from my lawyers, the ‘very reliable source’ was revealed. This mysterious ‘source’ that supposedly knows my business so well turns out to be none other than Raging Stallion. The relevant documentation cannot yet be made public. But I knew anyway from other sources that Raging Stallion is inaccurately and maliciously representing that I am making millions of dollars in sales, including foreign sales, and accusing me of illegally duplicating Fellini’s film in China. They are advising the party suing me not to trust me. The list of lies is long.”
In response, Kent Taylor of Raging Stallion released the following statement: “Raging Stallion has never provided any information to any attorneys for the Fellini estate. Raging Stallion has had no contact whatsoever with the Fellini estate or its representatives. Raging Stallion, its partners, and its employees do not even know the name of any attorney for the Fellini estate nor do we know who owns the Fellini estate. We do not know anyone connected in any way with the Fellini estate. We do not know how to contact them, nor do we desire to contact them on this or any other matter. The studio, its representatives, its employees, and its shareholders have never had any contact whatsoever with the Fellini estate on this or on any other matter.”
Lucas countered by saying it was not the Fellini estate that was suing him. “I am being sued by International Media Films,” he wrote, “the company that claims to own the rights to the Fellini film. And that is the company which Raging Stallion had their communication with. A communication that I have. A communication that at this point is attorney-client privileged only. I promise I will make it public as soon as this pointless lawsuit is over. And this lawsuit will be over soon, as the whole mess is heading straight to trial.” Lucas goes on to say, “Enough bullshit, Raging Stallion, you snitches. Your continuous lying to the entire industry is ridiculous and disrespectful, to say the least. Do you think everyone is that stupid?”
In an interview with VincentLambert.com on Friday, Lucas said that he was “drained” by the whole experience. He stands firm that there was no wrongdoing on his part and that the lawsuit is “frivolous.” He also shared the privileged documents mentioned above (off the record), so we cannot comment until further notice. But trust us, this story is to be continued…
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