The upcoming "Fifty Shades of Grey" movie might be the talk of the town, but legal issues between the steamy book and the Twilight Saga might get in the way of all its success.
Fifty Shades author E.L. James wrote the erotic novel based on Twilight fan fiction, which is a part of a trilogy. The other two are "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed."
According to Celebuzz, some media experts and fans believe that the series follow Stephanie Meyer's "romantic vampire tomes almost exactly." Even though James wrote the book from her own imagination, is her series too similar?
Celebuzz spoke to attorney Anthony Friedman of Los Angeles firm Levene, Neale, Bender, Yoo & Brill L.L.P, who said if any legal action were going to be taken against Fifty Shades of Grey, it probably would have already happened.
"If there was an infringement on the copyright, or anything like that, out of the Twilight [books], when the Shades of Grey books came out, they would have stopped it at that point. So, as you move along and then take the book and put it down into a screenplay, by the time you've gotten to that point, that book is out there enough, and enough people have gotten it into the commerce and have seen it ... If anybody would have had an issue, it would have already happened," Friedman told Celebuzz.
"Fifty Shades of Grey" is an erotic novel that focuses on 22-year-old recent college grad Anastasia Steele, who enters into a dominant/submissive sexual relationship with a billionaire named Christian Grey. The book has sold 10 million copies worldwide and has "surpassed the 'Harry Potter' series as the fastest-selling paperback of all time," according to IBTimes.
Like the Twilight Saga, the story centers around two characters that are in love. The difference is, however, that Fifty Shades is a little more rated R.
Thestir.cafemom.com said that the two stories are more different than what people think.
"In many ways, it's like 180 degrees from Meyer's abstinence-lovin' books, as it's basically an antidote for sex-starved fans of Twilight! Heck, sex-starved people period!" according to thestir.cafemom.com.
With "Fifty Shades of Grey" flying off the shelves, there is no doubt that fans will stand in line to wait for this erotic romance film.