Mother of the Matrix" Victorious ("The Matrix" Story Plagiarised by Wachowski/Warner Brothers)

Boycott-RIAA.com ^ | Dec 6 2004

[PetroniusMaximus]

Monday, October 4th 2004 ended a six-year dispute involving Sophia Stewart, the Wachowski Brothers, Joel Silver and Warner Brothers. Stewart's allegations, involving copyright infringement and racketeering, were received and acknowledged by the Central District of California, Judge Margaret Morrow residing.

Stewart, a New Yorker who has resided in Salt Lake City for the past five years, will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels. She will soon receive one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood, as the gross receipts of both films and their sequels total over 2.5 billion dollars.

Stewart filed her case in 1999, after viewing the Matrix, which she felt had been based on her manuscript, "The Third Eye," copyrighted in 1981. In the mid-eighties Stewart had submitted her manuscript to an ad placed by the Wachowski Brothers, requesting new sci-fi works.

According to court documentation, an FBI investigation discovered that more than thirty minutes had been edited from the original film, in attempt to avoid penalties for copyright infringement. The investigation also stated that "credible witnesses employed at Warner Brothers came forward, claiming that the executives and lawyers had full knowledge that the work in question did not belong to the Wachowski Brothers." These witnesses claimed to have seen Stewart's original work and that it had been "often used during preparation of the motion pictures." The defendants tried, on several occasions, to have Stewart's case dismissed, without success.

Stewart has confronted skepticism on all sides, much of which comes from Matrix fans, who are strangely loyal to the Wachowski Brothers. One on-line forum, entitled Matrix Explained has an entire section devoted to Stewart. Some who have researched her history and writings are open to her story. Others are suspicious and mocking. "It doesn't bother me," said Stewart in a phone interview last week, "I always knew what was true."

Some fans, are unaware of the case or they question its legitimacy, due to the fact that it has received little to no media coverage. Though the case was not made public until October of 2003, Stewart has her own explanation, as quoted at daghettotymz.com:

"The reason you have not seen any of this in the media is because Warner Brothers parent company is AOL-Time Warner... this GIANT owns 95 percent of the media... let me give you a clue as to what they own in the media business... New York Times papers/magazines, LA Times papers/magazines, People Magazine, CNN news, Extra, Celebrity Justice, Entertainment Tonight, HBO, New Line Cinema, Dreamworks, Newsweek, Village Roadshow... many, many more!... They are not going to report on themselves. They have been surpressing my case for years..."

Fans who have taken Stewart's allegations seriously, have found eerie mythological parallels, which seem significant in a case that revolves around the highly metaphorical and symbolic Matrix series. Sophia, the greek goddess of wisdom has been referenced many times in speculation about Stewart. In one book about the Goddess Sophia, it reads, "The black goddess is the mistress of web creation spun in her divine matrix."

Although there have been outside implications as to racial injustice (Stewart is African American), she does not feel that this is the case. "This is all about the Benjamins," said Stewart. "It's not about money with me. It's about justice."

Stewart's future plans involve a record label, entitled Popsilk Records, and a motion picture production company, All Eyez On Me, in reference to God. "I wrote The Third Eye to wake people up, to remind them why God put them here. There's more to life than money," said Stewart. "My whole message to the world is about God and good and about choice, about spirituality prevailing over 'technocracy'."

If Stewart represents spirituality, then she truly has prevailed over the "technocracy" represented in both the Terminator and the Matrix, and now, ironically, by their supposed creators.

Stewart is currently having discussions with CBS about a possible exclusive story and has several media engagements in the near future to nationally publicize her victory.

[Texas2step]

Does she have the "documents" to prove it? If you would bother to read the story, you would have noticed that she had a copyrighted work, "The Third Eye". They stole the story from her, and then used everything in their power to keep her from profiting from a 2+ billion dollar enterprise based on her story.

Again, if you would have bothered to read the article, you would see that she had responded to an ad, placed by the Wachoswski's, and submitted her copyrighted work to them. They gave her a rejection slip, and then kept the story anyway. It was a classic case of stolen work. At least that was work the court of law found.

[GOPcapitalist]

And I think this Stewart lady plagiarized a bunch of philosophers. The descendants of Plato should sue!

[GOPcapitalist]

There's 30 minutes missing from the original "Matrix?" Wha?

I'm sure you can get it with that 18 disc "special edition" DVD set they're pushing on late night infomercials. As an added bonus you even get a running commentary featuring Cornel West!

[Vince Ferrer]

Uhhh...WHAT? Have you actually read Dune? It's hard to think of a work of Sci Fi more different from Terminator and The Matrix than Dune.

Two words: Butlerian Jihad

[Axenolith]

The Butlerian Jihad in Dune was a war between humans and AI beings...

[Paul C. Jesup]

You might want to check this thread out considering you are a Ghost in the Shell fan and I am sure you would admire the irony considering the W. Brothers also ripped off the 'numbers' intro to the first Ghost in the Shell movie.

[section9]

Well, the W. Brothers didn't do so much as "rip off" the initial "Numbers" sequence in their intro as use it as a homage to Ghost. In addition, there is a chase scene in which a bullet passes through a watermelon that deleberately tips the hat to a similar scene from GItS I.

The crime of the W Brothers is not the Matrix itself, but the fact that the successor movies were so effing baaad!

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Polonius]

The mention of "The Terminator" is odd ... and I'm pretty sure Harlan Ellison at one point claimed that movie had ripped off his ideas, so this woman seems to be a little late to the party.

[jackbill]

let me give you a clue as to what they own in the media business... New York Times papers/magazines, LA Times papers/magazines, People Magazine, CNN news, Extra, Celebrity Justice, Entertainment Tonight, HBO, New Line Cinema, Dreamworks, Newsweek, Village Roadshow... many, many more!...

The LA Times is owned by the Tribune Company - not AOL Time Warner.

[MarkL]

So how does The Terminator fit into all this?

I don't know about this, but Harlan Ellison sued the studios over "Terminator," and you'll now notice that during the credits, there is an acknowledgement of HE's works.

I guess that both are similar in that we build a better machine, the machines take over, and start killing people.

Mark

[Old Professer]

The whole claim rests on her submitting the original work to the filmmakers and their acknowledgement of receipt.

[Paul C. Jesup]

True about the Matrix sequels. And as homages/parodies go, Megas XLR beats everyone hands down.

Considering what they have already do, I wonder if they will do a GitS parody.