Writer Lauren J. Salkin is suing, alleging she pitched Sheridan an idea for a show in 2016 that has significant similarities to ‘Yellowstone’
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NEED TO KNOW
- Writer Lauren J. Salkin is suing Taylor Sheridan and several companies, alleging Yellowstone copied key elements from her TV project, Sovereign Nation
- Salkin claims she submitted the project to Sheridan’s representatives before Yellowstone was greenlit and claims the two shows share key story elements, character functions and casting choices
- She is seeking profits tied to the alleged copyright infringement and an injunction barring continued use of her material
Taylor Sheridan and several other parties are being sued by a writer who claims Sheridan stole her idea for a television series and used it to create his hit show Yellowstone.
The copyright infringement lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Aug. 21. The complaint names Sheridan, 56, his management company Elevate Entertainment, Paramount and NBCUniversal as defendants, among several other parties.
In the complaint, which was obtained by PEOPLE, TV writer and entertainment journalist Lauren J. Salkin alleges that she submitted a completed pilot, show bible (a detailed document that lays out a show’s concept and planned storylines) and pitch deck for a series called Sovereign Nation to Sheridan’s representatives at Elevate Entertainment in late 2016 and early 2017.
The complaint alleges that the show — which Salkin claims she spent more than a decade developing — was a “dramatic television series centered on tribal governance, casino-driven economic power, and a modern war over land and development.”
Credit: Scott Dudelson/Getty
Salkin alleges that on Feb. 1, 2017, she received a response from the company informing her that Sheridan had passed on the concept. She claims the note specifically stated: “Taylor thanks you very much for your interest. Unfortunately, he’s unavailable for TV Projects.”
The complaint alleges that Paramount then greenlit Sheridan’s Yellowstone “within months.”
Sheridan, Elevate, Paramount and NBCUniversal did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Saturday, Aug. 22.
The series eventually premiered on Paramount on June 20, 2018, and later began streaming on NBCUniversal’s Peacock.
In the complaint, Salkin further claims that Yellowstone has undeniable parallels to Sovereign Nation — including key plot devices, story mechanisms and character functions — and alleges that Yellowstone featured several of her proposed casting recommendations for key roles in her project.
Credit: Paramount
Salkin additionally alleges that a senior creative executive at HBO, who had reviewed creative materials for Sovereign Nation when she was initially pitching the concept, later told her that he reviewed Sheridan’s concept for Yellowstone in the spring of 2017 and immediately recognized the similarities between the two projects.
The HBO executive said he immediately “terminated Sheridan’s project at HBO for that reason,” per the complaint.
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HBO did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
The complaint argues that the Yellowstone franchise — which also includes spinoff shows 1883, 1923, Marshals and Dutton Ranch — “has generated billions of dollars” for the defendants, of which Salkin “has received nothing.”
Salkin is seeking damages and profits tied to the alleged copyright infringement as well as an injunction preventing the defendants from continuing to use her copyrighted material.
No specific total amount of damages is listed in the complaint.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Salkin’s attorney Paul B. Lackey said, “This is a classic David-versus-Goliath situation. She spent years putting together the specific and multi-layered framework for a story that has become the biggest streaming success of all time. She has watched the vast commercial success of this story that was stolen from her and decided that enough was enough. We will do everything in our power to get her justice.”
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