Paramount sued over rights to Breakfast at Tiffany's

A charity working in the interests of Truman Capote's legacy is in a legal dispute with Paramount Pictures over Breakfast at Tiffany's.

The charitable Trust, which Capote established before his death in 1984, has taken the studio to court over the rights to any sequel, prequel or TV based on the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's or the 1961 film of the same name, which starred Audrey Hepburn.

Alan Schwartz, the charity's trustee, has insisted the rights should be returned to the charity following the lapse of a 1991 deal which optioned them to Paramount for a limited time.

"In 1991, Plaintiff and the Capote Estate entered into an agreement with Paramount, whereby Paramount optioned certain sequel and prequel rights, among others, with respect to the film," states the complaint in court documents obtained by the Hollywood Reporter.

"The agreement provided that, if a motion picture was not produced within a certain amount of time, the rights would revert back to Plaintiff," it continues, arguing that the agreement, which renewed the rights for $300,000 (£230,000) for possible new adaptations has since expired, and that no film was produced during the 28-year term specified.

The case is reminiscent of one that passed through the Supreme Court in 1990 concerning Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, which reverted all rights to heirs despite potentially conflicting prior agreements with previous copyright holders.

The dispute has arisen after representatives of Capote's charity discussed the possibility of a Breakfast at Tiffany's TV series with Paramount after receiving bids of interest but executives at Paramount prefered a film project.

Paramount is yet to publicly address the complaint.