'Top Gun: Maverick' wins legal battle against copyright claims
- By Web Desk -
- Jan 03, 2026
A federal appeals court has ruled that the 2022 blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick,” starring Tom Cruise, does not infringe on the rights of an article that inspired the original 1986 “Top Gun” film.
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California, announced on Friday that “Maverick,” produced by Paramount Pictures, was not substantially similar to “Top Gun,” a 1983 piece by Ehud Yonay about the U.S. Navy’s Top Gun fighter pilot training program.
Yonay had granted Paramount the rights to his article for the original film and was credited in it. However, following the termination of the license in 2020 by his heirs, widow Shosh Yonay and son Yuval Yonay, they sought a share of the profits from “Maverick,” which grossed $1.5 billion worldwide, making it Cruise’s highest-grossing film and the 14th highest overall, according to Box Office Mojo.
The Yonays argued that “Maverick” shared similar plot lines, characters, dialogue, and themes with “Top Gun,” both depicting the quest to become the best fighter pilots.
However, the three-judge appeal panel found that “Maverick” included significant plot elements absent from “Top Gun,” such as a romantic subplot and Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell’s return to train new pilots.
Circuit Judge Eric Miller noted that the Yonays described the two works at “such a high level of abstraction” that any alleged similarities were not protectable. He stated, “Their claim of substantial similarity fails because what is protected is not similar, and what is similar is not protected.”
The court also clarified that Paramount was not obligated to credit Ehud Yonay in “Maverick” since the 1983 agreement did not extend to the sequel.
This decision upheld an April 2024 dismissal by US District Judge Percy Anderson in Los Angeles.
In addition, Paramount faces a separate lawsuit in New York from screenwriter Shaun Grey, who claims he wrote several scenes in “Maverick” and seeks a share of its profits, with jury selection scheduled for March 9.