Michael Moore is getting sued over his 2018 documentary Fahrenheit 11/9. The documentary covered the final years of the Obama Presidency, the election of Donald Trump, and much more. The film saw praise and criticism, but now it may be seen in court. Here’s what’s going on.
Some Questionable Obama Footage
In 2016, Darick Clemons filmed President Barack Obama during a visit to Flint, Michigan on his personal cell phone. This footage popped up in Moore’s documentary during a digression about the state of Flint. Clemons now says the footage was used without his permission. He’s taking Moore to court to recover profits.
According to Clemons, the footage of Obama is copyrighted, and Moore could not have reached the same effect without the clip. Moore, a Flint native, has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
Not The First Time He’s Gone To Court
This isn’t the first time Moore has been brought to court, nor is it the first high-profile copyright claim against one of his projects. The Moore-produced Planet of the Humans was pulled from YouTube over copyright concerns. The film went through waves of removal and reinstatement, but it appears to be back up for good.
Nearly every Moore project has some lawsuit attached to it. He got sued for libel over Bowling for Columbine by the brother of the Oklahoma City bombing conspirator. That one got dismissed out of court.
Moore famously sued Harvey Weinstein in 2011 over unpaid profits from Fahrenheit 9/11. The parties settled, but the terms remain private. Moore was prepared to work with Weinstein again in 2017, but he shut down production once the sexual abuse allegations hit the news.
A Very Familiar Story
This lawsuit may sound like deja vu for Moore. He settled a very similar lawsuit for his 2006 film Sicko. Ken Aronson was shown for 71 seconds getting treated for a shoulder injury. Aronson alleged that the footage was personal, copyrighted, and had been used without permission. A judge initially ordered Aronson to pay $10,000 to Moore for the lawsuit, but the two parties later settled.
These copyright lawsuits almost constitute business as usual for the documentarian. It’s unknown what topic Moore will tackle next, but he’s staying busy with his newsletter. He recently penned an op-ed about the attempts to censor his work over the past decades. Only time will tell what comes of this Fahrenheit 11/9 lawsuit, but it’s nothing Moore hasn’t experienced before.