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In January 2020 Patently Apple posted a report titled "The First Copyright Infringement case against Apple for one of their TV series was filed in a California Court today." The report noted that the Defendants listed on the original court docket is quite extensive beginning with Apple Inc. and the Executive Producer of the Apple TV+ show 'Servant' M. Night Shyamalan along with ten other identities including companies and individuals as noted in a copy of the case docket below.

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The complaint filed by Plaintiff Francesca Gregorini alleges that the Apple TV+ show 'Servant' is a "brazen copy" of his 2013 film titled "The Truth about Emanuel."

In late May 2020 a Federal Judge dismissed the Copyright Suit against M. Night Shyamalan's Apple TV+ series 'Servant.' Judge John F. Walter ruled that the TV show wasn't similar enough to the film, "The Truth About Emanuel," to merit a lawsuit.

It was reported late yesterday that the Ninth Circuit Court reinstated a copyright lawsuit against Apple claiming the first three episodes of its "Servant" psychological horror series are a "wholesale copy" of a 2013 feature film.

The appellate panel overturned a federal judge's finding of no substantial similarities, as far as copyrightable elements were concerned, between the movie "The Truth About Emanuel" and the Apple TV+ series. The judge, according to the panel, had been too quick to dismiss the lawsuit because "reasonable minds" could differ on the question whether the works are substantially similar.

"In particular, expert testimony would aid the court in objectively evaluating similarities in cinematic techniques, distinguishing creative elements from scènes à faire, determining the extent and qualitative importance of similar elements between the works, and comparing works in the different mediums of film and television," the panel said.

Filmmaker Francesca Gregorini's 2013 thriller involved a troubled teenager who becomes the babysitter for a new neighbor only to discover that the baby she's supposed to care for is a doll. Apple's "Servant," with "The Sixth Sense" director M. Night Shyamalan as executive producer and now in its third season, is about a couple who hire a teenage babysitter to look after their baby, which also turns out to be a doll.

For more on this, read the full report by Courthouse News Service.