Queens, New York Author Gregory L Hudson Speaks Candidly About "Why He Sued Eddie Murphy"

Dec. 25, 2012 - PRLog -- "When I first discovered that Eddie Murphy, Universal Studios, producer Brian Grazer (Imagine Film Entertainment) had used 'protected elements'  from my successful outrageous stageplay comedy, 'No Harm, No Foul', all I asked of them was to be paid on a Dramatis Guild of America ("DGA") contract; nothing more ... nothing less." I was quickly met with strong opposition and denials (although I 'hand-delievered' my plays to rapper and CEO of Uptown Records Heavy D, Dwight Meyers), in addition to a concocted story claiming that Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone (two unknown white writers) wrote this 'black movie' with so many elements taken from my own personal "LIFE' experences".

Never was there any intention to sue Eddie Murphy and every effort was seemingly made to avoid suing him as the copy of (one of several) the letter on the last page of the book sent to Murphy's and Universal's Lawyers (Richard Dannay and Thomas Kjellberg of Cowan Liebowitz & Latman PC) clearly states.

"No matter what I said, did, or what undisputable evidence I showed them that my work was used to make 'LIFE' without my authorization ... Murphy and his associates lied and denied using my work; even when I presented photograhs of me (performing off-broadway in "No Harm, No Foul") wearing the identical wife beater T-Shirt as he wore (playing the same character as I) in the movie, 'LIFE'. Those photographs can be seen on my website as well as the introduction to all 18 chapters." http://www.poorpennyproductions.com/index/Why_I_sued_Eddie_Murphy.

Copyright theft or the theft and unauthorized use of artists (writers, singers, artists...) work is simply put .... "wrong" on so many different levels. The general public, lawyers, judges, politicians, and CEOs simply think that ... "it's just a play, film, song that was taken ... he/she can write another one".  To the contrary ... stealing artists work and dragging them through years of court is one of the most destructive things in the world that one human being can do to another. Put in true perspective; 1) 99 percent of the time it totally destroys the artists and their careers as artists ... totally blacklisted from the industry, 2) it ruins the artists financially and often leaving them homeless .... yes ... that's right! Many of the artists are left totally homeless after lossing everything from lengthy ligitation. It's worth noting that lengthy litigation is an integral part of the copyright thieves' defense; drag out the lawsuit until the plaintiffs (legal copyright holder of the stolen work) are dead broke. 3) Many artists suffer from mental break downs .... some recover while others don't and 4) Too many artists lose their families through separation and ultimately divorce. The emotional and financial strain simply proves to be too much for the artists spouses.

"It is the horrors of these type of hideous and destructive secrets that I wanted to expose in wrting "Why I Sued Eddie Murphy" and I did.  More importantly, I wanted to set the record straight that my work was indeed used without my permission and that unlike "BET" (Black Entertainment Television's Blog) reported that I wrote the book to "exact revenge". My reputation and character is very important to me and I've worked very hard all of my life to protect it. And to have people think that I was out for some cheezy payday from Eddie Murphy or anyone is unacceptable. Just as disturbing is that fact that the judges knowingly ruled against me when infact the law was clearly in my favor. So what's the big problem with that? The judges' rulings are recorded and relied upon throughout the American Judicial System and is law. If these rulings are knowingly wrong and taught to law students as the truth ... our ENTIRE JUDICIAL SYSTEM MAY WELL BE BUILT ON FRAUD".

In the book, many attempts were made (through the lawyers) to settle with Murphy and Universal Studios without going to court. The book also shows some of the most disturbing misconduct by a plaintiff's attorneys ever recorded on court records. For example, in chapter 9, "The Beat Down", the book describes a horrible day in court whereby Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom rips Claudia Baio (Hudson's attorney at the time) to pieces and make her admit that she had violated his attorney/client priviledges by discussing the case with third parties. Baio's conduct had her essentially working for Eddie Murphy and Universal and throwing her own client under the bus. Also included is the show down at the Brooklyn Bar Association between Hudson and his first attorney, Mira L White.

"Being sold out or betrayed by my own attorney turned out to be very common in copyright theft cases I quickly discovered. As other artists contacted me such as Sophia Stewart (who sued for "The Matrix"), Carla B. Boone (who Sued for the song "Hollaback" by rapper Fabolous), Darryl Lassiter (who sued for the movie "Drumline"), and Troy Walker (Who sued for "SpongeBob"), all of them explained to me how they had been betrayed by their own attorneys. Even worst, some of them had paid their lawyers thousands of dollars; Sophia Stewart paid $50,000  and Carla B. Boone more than $100,000. I too was slapped with a $40,000 attorney fee judgment by the judges. I will fight this judgment as well as all of those other improper rulings against me, but this time I will give the judges an opportunity to explain to the public why they ruled contrary to the law against me. The judges will have an opportunity to be on the other side of the law to see and feel exactly how we felt being unjustly dragged through a bias and corrupted judicial system. So in writing the book ... I felt compelled and that it was my moral duty and obligation to exposed and shed the brightest light possible on this 'Artistic Genocide' against artists by the people we entrusted. With this book, my hope is to "End Copyright Theft".

One reader posted on Amazon after reading the book on Kindle, "A very easy read. I was actually amazed at the amount of information in this one little book. I like the way the author was able to hold your attention to the end. The book also made me laugh. Who would think that the author would be able to make jokes while going through what he did in this book.
I would hope that people will pick up this book and read. It will give you an insight not only into what the independent artist has to go through but maybe teach you how to protect yourself against the so called BIG guys out there who wants to take from the LITTLE man".

Another reader posted on Barnes & Noble's website, "... And then you read the book and realize that Hudson is not jumping on some bandwagon or merely trying to ‘make bank.’ In fact, the book offers a ‘can-you-believe-this-still-happens-in-this-country?!’ account of what drove Hudson to sue the uber-celebrity in a decade-long court case that persists to this day".

"So I did not write the book for a paycheck or to exact revenge; I wrote the book to protect my credibility, highlight the horrors and devastation of copyright theft against artists, to arm artists with knowledge that will help them protect themselves against copyright theft, and to ultimately 'End Copyright Theft'. How any law school can teach or speak on ethics, legal/judical misconduct or malpractice, due process of the law (especially with respect to copyright), and not include the book 'Why I Sued Eddie Murphy' is unexplainable".

"My lawsuits have lasted more than a decade and will problable last another decade. Murphy never picked up the phone to say,'Hey man ... lets sit down and talk and put this thing behind us'. Instead ... he, like many celebrities, believed that lawyers and law firms were the answer; those days are gone. Independent Artists around the world have decided to fight to protect their works regardless of the opposition or consequences. As for studios, networks, and record labels, they would be better served by exposing the copyright thieves who bring the stolen works to them (promote the works as their own) and blacklisting the theives for LIFE from the industry-- as opposed to DESTROYING and BLACKLISTING the artists who simply want credit, compensation for their work, and to put food on the table and in the mouths of thier families. Is that too much for an artist to ask"?