3 Count: Gemini Split

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1: Will Smith Shuts Down $1.7 Million Fight With Science Fiction Author Over Box Office Bomb

First off today, Ryan Naumann at In Touch reports that a judge has dismissed all copyright infringement claims against actor Will Smith in the ongoing lawsuit over the 2019 film Gemini Man.

Author Kissinger Sibanda filed the lawsuit. He alleged that Smith and others connected with the film misused elements from his 2011 book, The Return to Gibraltar, to make the film. Sibanda cited similarities between the two stories, but the defendants noted that Gemini Man had been in progress since 1997 when the first script was written.

The court has dismissed Smith from the lawsuit. However, the case will move forward against the other defendants. Those include Skydance Productions, Gemini Pictures and Paramount Pictures.

2: Porn Company Sues 4 Memphis IP Addresses, Says 179 Films Illegally Downloaded, Distributed

Next up today, Lucas Finton at Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that Strike 3 Films has filed a lawsuit against four Memphis-area IP addresses that it accuses of illegally sharing their content.

Strike 3 is an adult content company well known for targeting suspected pirates of their content. It’s filed the case without the defendants named, hoping to have the court order that their ISPs provide those details.

All four are accused of using BitTorrent to access and share content illegally. The lawsuit comes on the heels of a new law in Tennessee that restricts access to pornography, requiring that such sites validate user IDs.

3: Piracy Data: Film & TV No Longer Problem No. 1 in 2025 — It’s Manga

Finally, today, Robert Steiner at Variety reports that a new piracy study by Muso shows that while all types of content generated more pirate site visits in 2024, the biggest leap was for Manga, which rose 56% over the year.

According to the report, manga has been on a steady rise in popularity around the world. However, for many classic works, there are few, if any, legitimate options for accessing them. As such, users are increasingly turning to piracy.

Without manga, publishing would have only seen a slight rise in pirate site visits. However, with manga, the rate of increase far exceeds that of television or film.

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