A Louisiana Appellate Court upheld the decision of a Louisiana State Court to dismiss a lawsuit against Warner Brothers and director Oliver Stone charging that the film Natural Born Killers was responsible for a real life crime spree.  Lawyers for wounded convenience store clerk Patsy Ann Byers had argued that Stone and Warner Brothers should have known that the film would inspire others to emulate the thrill-seeking couple played in Natural Born Killers by Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis, and when their suit was dismissed (see 'WB Wins Natural Born Killers Lawsuit'), they immediately appealed the decision.  The opinion delivered by the Louisiana Appellate Court is unequivocal and should become an important precedent protecting movies, comics, TV series, and games from lawsuits based on 'copycat' crimes, though the plaintiffs could still attempt to appeal this latest decision to the Louisiana Supreme Court.  During the twisted course of this lawsuit, which was first filed in 1995, the Louisiana Supreme Court has already refused to hear the case once, but now that it has made it through the Appellate Court level, the plaintiffs may petition the Louisiana Supreme Court once again.

 

The Appellate Court decision did acknowledge the copycat nature of the crime committed by the young killers, who reportedly took several doses of LSD and watched Natural Born Killers twice before setting off on their crime spree, but the Court noted the killer's 'decision to imitate the characters of a film is more a regrettable commentary on their own culpability than a danger of free expression requiring courts to chill such speech through civil penalties.'  The court's decision to treat the film as fully deserving of the full protection of the First Amendment right to free speech is key, and unless it's overturned it should discourage 'copycat' crime lawsuits.  This decision could certainly have ramifications for comics, games, anime, or TV shows with violent content.