Taylor Sheridan and Paramount are facing a copyright infringement lawsuit from writer Lauren J. Salkin, who claims that the hit series Yellowstone was developed from a project she had pitched to Sheridan's representatives years earlier. The suit names Sheridan in his roles as actor, producer and writer, along with his production company 101 Studios, Paramount and Elevate Entertainment as defendants.
Salkin alleges that Yellowstone did not simply draw on familiar elements of the western genre but copied specific creative choices from her own project, called Sovereign Nation.
This sounds familiar
According to the lawsuit, Salkin presented a pilot and a pitch deck for Sovereign Nation to Sheridan's representatives in late 2016 and early 2017. She had reportedly spent more than a decade developing the project, which centered on tribal government, the economic power of a casino, and a battle over territory and urban development.
On February 1, 2017, she received a response from Elevate Entertainment informing her that Sheridan was not available for television projects. The lawsuit states that Yellowstone was approved by Paramount only a few months later.
Salkin argues the similarities go well beyond genre conventions. She points to a tribal casino serving as the center of political and economic power, a dispute over expansion beyond the limits of a reservation, the use of land held in trust, the absence of zoning restrictions, and a 99-year lease agreement used as a mechanism to develop the territory, all of which she says appear in both projects.
More coincidences
Salkin also points to what she considers a particularly significant coincidence. In her original proposal, she had suggested actors Danny Huston and Gil Birmingham for specific roles, and both ultimately joined the cast of Yellowstone. Birmingham plays Thomas Rainwater, a tribal leader whose development strategy is tied to the casino, while Huston portrays a powerful real estate developer.
Yellowstone's rise
Yellowstone premiered in the United States in June 2018 and was later licensed to territories around the world. The series has become a cornerstone of Paramount+ in the United States and of SkyShowtime in Spain.
Its success has spawned a string of spin-offs, including 1883, 1923, Y: Marshals, Dutton Ranch and The Madison. A further spin-off, titled 6666, was recently cancelled before production even began.
The show also helped propel Sheridan, previously known as a screenwriter on films including Sicario, Hell or High Water and Wind River, to the top of the television industry. His expanding roster of series now also includes Lioness, Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown and Landman, all of which could be affected if the lawsuit calls the origins of his flagship show into question.
