M. Night Shyamalan Cleared of Copyright Charges in ‘Servant’ Trial, Jury Rules

variety.com:

M. Night Shyamalan and Apple on Friday, ending a copyright trial that saw the defendants accused of stealing elements from an independent feature in the writing of the streaming series “Servant.” The nine-day trial in Riverside, Calif., which began Jan.

14., saw Italian-born director Francesca Gregorini seeking as much as $81 million in damages, alleging that Shyamalan and collaborators had lifted narrative elements of her 2013 film, “The Truth About Emanuel,” without credit.

Gregorini’s feature followed a delusional mother who treats a baby doll as if it were a real infant, along with a nanny who corroborates that false reality.

Gregorini saw significant plot similarities between her own film and “Servant.” Gregorini testified last week that she was “shocked” when she first saw the trailer for “Servant,” and believed that her film had been stolen from her.