The Holdovers Copyright Infringement Lawsuit, Alexander Payne Sued Over Alleged Copying of Frisco

Screenwriter Simon Stephenson has sued director Alexander Payne, writer David Hemingson, producer Mark Johnson and several production and distribution companies, alleging that the Oscar-nominated film The Holdovers copied his unproduced 2013 screenplay Frisco. Stephenson’s credits include Pixar’s Luca, Paddington 2 and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain.

The lawsuit was filed October 28, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. It identifies 46 alleged matching story incidents, 24 of which allegedly appear in the same order in both works. It also points to two oddities: a medical-conference reference in a May 2021 draft of The Holdovers and a screenplay-formatting error allegedly shared by both scripts.

These are allegations. No court has found that the film infringed Frisco, and no court has decided whether the two works are substantially similar in legally protected expression. Payne rejected the plagiarism accusation when Stephenson first raised it in 2024. This is an individual copyright case, not a class action, and there is no settlement or claim form.

The Holdovers Copyright Lawsuit: Quick Facts

Detail	Information
Film	The Holdovers (2023)
Plaintiff	Simon Stephenson
Screenplay at issue	Frisco (written 2012 to 2013; on the 2013 Black List)
Defendants reported	Alexander Payne, David Hemingson, Mark Johnson, Gran Via Productions, Honest Scholar, Miramax, Focus Features, Universal Home Entertainment and related entities
Court	U.S. District Court, Central District of California
Filed	October 28, 2026
Case number	Not confirmed in the public sources reviewed
Main allegation	Copyright infringement
Alleged matching incidents	46 (24 in the same order)
Earlier dispute	Writers Guild of America correspondence beginning January 2024
Relief requested	Actual damages, injunction, attorney fees
Defendants’ response to the 2026 complaint	None identified as of October 30, 2026
Class action?	No
Settlement or claim form	None

Defendant note: Entertainment Weekly and TheWrap list overlapping but not identical defendants. Confirm each entity’s exact legal name against the complaint’s caption.

What Is The Holdovers Lawsuit Actually About?

What Is Frisco?

Stephenson wrote Frisco in 2012 and 2013. It follows a middle-aged pediatric allergist going through a divorce, who travels to a San Francisco medical conference and ends up responsible for a precocious 15-year-old patient. Their relationship changes his outlook. The script was placed on the 2013 Black List, the annual survey of well-liked unproduced screenplays. Black List placement shows the script circulated in the industry, but it is not a copyright registration, a ruling, or proof of copying.

What Is The Holdovers?

The 2023 film, directed by Payne and written by Hemingson, follows Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), an unpopular teacher at a New England boarding school who stays behind over Christmas break to supervise a student, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), alongside the school cook, Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). It earned five Oscar nominations, including Best Original Screenplay, and Randolph won Best Supporting Actress. The screenplay award went to Anatomy of a Fall.

How Does Stephenson Say the Two Stories Connect?

Stephenson argues the filmmakers did not just reuse a general premise. He says they transformed Frisco by changing the setting and professions while keeping the underlying events and expression:

Frisco	The Holdovers
Children’s hospital	New England boarding school
Cynical pediatrician	Cynical history teacher
Precocious 15-year-old patient	Precocious teenage student
Medical conference trip	School holiday setting
Doctor-patient relationship	Teacher-student relationship

Whether those overlaps involve protected expression rather than general ideas is the question the court must answer.

What Are the 46 Matching Incidents in the Holdovers Lawsuit?

Stephenson alleges that 46 incidents in Frisco correspond to incidents in The Holdovers, and that 24 of them appear in the same sequence. That is more specific than saying both stories pair a grumpy adult with a teenager, which is a general idea nobody owns.

The order matters because one shared event may be coincidence or dictated by the setting, while a run of distinctive events in the same order can support an inference of copying, especially alongside evidence of access. But courts do not simply count similarities. They ask whether the overlap involves original, protectable expression, as opposed to common ideas or standard genre elements. The 46 figure is the plaintiff’s own comparison, not a finding.

What Is the Medical Conference Line in The Holdovers Lawsuit?

The complaint says a May 2021 draft of The Holdovers has Angus say he is in town for a medical conference. That does not fit the story, since neither he nor the teacher attends one, but it is central to Frisco. Stephenson argues the line is a leftover from his script, and that it was later removed while surrounding dialogue stayed.

Removal alone does not prove intent or concealment. Scripts change constantly during development, and the defendants can explain the drafting history. A court would need the actual drafts, revision records and testimony.

What Is the “Under Black” Screenplay Error?

Screenplays use technical directions such as “OVER BLACK” for text or sound over a black screen. The complaint reportedly says both Frisco and The Holdovers use “UNDER BLACK” instead. Stephenson’s lawyers argue a repeated, peculiar mistake says more than a shared style. The defense can challenge whether the term is really unusual or whether it has any legal significance. It is not conclusive on its own.

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Did Alexander Payne Read Frisco Before Making The Holdovers?

Access is one of the central issues. Stephenson says Payne received Frisco twice, relying on emails and correspondence reported by Variety:

• August 2013. On August 28, 2013, Verve founder Bryan Besser reportedly told people connected to the script that it had been given to Payne’s producing partner, Jim Burke, as a possible Searchlight project. Months later, a UTA representative reportedly wrote that Burke said Payne liked Frisco but did not want to produce or direct it.
• December 2019. When Frisco was being reconsidered through Netflix, executive Lisa Nishimura reportedly brought it to Payne. On December 6, 2019, Brightstar executive John Woodward reportedly emailed Stephenson and producer Tanya Seghatchian that Payne had read it but did not think it suited what he wanted.

The second reading matters to Stephenson because it came shortly before Payne began working with Hemingson on a boarding-school film.

In copyright law, independent creation is not infringement. A plaintiff generally must show the defendant had access to the earlier work, or that the similarity is so striking that copying can be inferred. Proving someone read a script does not prove they copied it.

What Did Alexander Payne Say Inspired The Holdovers?

Payne has said the idea began with Marcel Pagnol’s 1935 French film Merlusse, about boarding-school boys left at school over the holidays with an unpopular teacher. He has said he later read a boarding-school television pilot by Hemingson and asked him to write a feature. Hemingson has said the setting draws on his time at Watkinson School in Connecticut and that his uncle was a model for much of Hunham’s personality and dialogue.

That gives the defense a possible independent source for the boarding-school holiday premise, and Merlusse predates both screenplays by decades. It does not by itself explain every alleged overlap in specific scenes, dialogue or sequence. A film can have multiple inspirations and still copy protected expression, and the court will compare the actual texts.

Why Did the Writers Guild Not Decide the Plagiarism Claim?

Stephenson contacted Lesley Mackey, the Writers Guild of America’s senior director of credits, on January 12, 2024, saying The Holdovers was copied from Frisco. Variety reported his emails in March 2024, just before the Oscars. According to that reporting, WGA counsel said copyright and plagiarism claims were not arbitrable under the guild’s Minimum Basic Agreement, and that an Article X proceeding lacked the fact-finding and remedies a copyright case needs. The guild referred him to a lawyer.

The WGA did not find that the allegations were false or that the film infringed. It said a court was the right place for the dispute.

Who Is Being Sued Over The Holdovers?

Defendant	Connection to the film
Alexander Payne	Director; alleged recipient of Frisco
David Hemingson	Credited screenwriter
Mark Johnson	Producer
Gran Via Productions	Production company associated with Johnson
Honest Scholar	Production entity identified in reporting
Miramax	Financing and distribution interests identified in reporting
Focus Features	Distributor
Universal Home Entertainment	Home-entertainment entity identified in reporting

A distributor is not automatically liable just because it released a film. The plaintiff must establish a legal basis for each claim against each company, based on its alleged participation, knowledge and control.

What Does Stephenson Need to Prove Under U.S. Copyright Law?

Copyright infringement, not “plagiarism,” is the legal claim. A plaintiff generally must show ownership of a valid copyright and copying of original, protected elements. In the Ninth Circuit, which covers California federal courts, the analysis includes:

1. Access and evidence of copying. The 2013 and 2019 emails are central here.
2. The extrinsic test. An objective comparison of specific expressive elements such as plot, sequence of events, characters, dialogue, setting and scene construction, often with expert help. This is where the 46 incidents, the 24-in-order claim, the formatting error and the conference line would matter.
3. The intrinsic test. Whether an ordinary reasonable audience would find the works substantially similar in overall concept and feel.

The claim can fail if the plaintiff cannot show substantial similarity in protected expression.

Can Anyone Copyright a Story Idea About a Teacher and a Teenager?

No. Copyright protects original expression, not ideas, themes, genres or premises. An unhappy adult bonding with a teenager, a teacher supervising students over a holiday, or a doctor caring for a difficult young patient are all general ideas open to every writer. What a script can protect is its particular dialogue, distinctive scenes, character development and original arrangement of incidents. This is the idea-expression distinction.

Courts also exclude scènes à faire, elements that naturally come with a setting. A boarding-school story will have classrooms, teachers and dormitories, and a hospital story will have doctors, patients and conferences. That is why the court must examine the alleged matches rather than count shared locations and character types.

What Is Stephenson Asking the Court to Award?

According to coverage of the complaint, he seeks actual damages, an injunction against further infringement and attorney fees. No fixed dollar demand has been reported.

Could The Holdovers be pulled from streaming? No removal order exists. An injunction request is not an injunction, and a judge would have to apply the legal standards and weigh evidence before granting one.

How much could copyright damages be? Under 17 U.S.C. § 504, a successful plaintiff may seek actual damages and attributable profits, or, if registration requirements are met, statutory damages generally of $750 to $30,000 per work, up to $150,000 for willful infringement. Those are statutory ranges, not amounts sought or awarded here. Under 17 U.S.C. § 411, a U.S. work generally must be registered before suit, and § 412 affects statutory damages and fees, so the complaint and Copyright Office records should be checked before stating what is available in this case.

Has Alexander Payne Responded to the 2026 Lawsuit?

No formal response was identified as of October 30, 2026. Entertainment Weekly reported contacting representatives for Payne, Hemingson, Johnson, Miramax and Focus Features. Payne’s earlier public denial and his Merlusse account date from the 2024 accusation and are not a filed answer. The defendants can admit, deny or challenge the allegations in court.

Is The Holdovers Copyright Lawsuit a Class Action?

No. Stephenson sued over his own screenplay. There is no class, claims administrator, claim form or viewer compensation program.

How Is The Holdovers Case Different From Other Hollywood Copyright Lawsuits?

Creative-work disputes turn on different legal questions:

• Buck Woodall vs. Disney Lawsuit, The Moana Copyright Case That Ended With a Forged Document and a Second Lawsuit Still Running involved allegations that Moana copied an earlier project, and ended with a jury verdict for Disney.
• Friday The 13th Lawsuit Explained, Who Owns Jason Now? was about ownership and termination rights in an original screenplay, not about a later film copying someone else’s story.
• Stranger Things Lawsuit Update, Copyright Cases Settled, What You Need to Know covers claims that the series copied earlier concepts and screenplays, which ended in dismissal or settlement without a public infringement finding.

Those outcomes do not decide Stephenson’s case.

What Happens Next in the Holdovers Copyright Lawsuit?

The case is at its earliest stage. Expect, in rough order:

1. Formal service of the complaint.
2. Answers or motions to dismiss, likely testing ownership, access and the scope of the claims.
3. Discovery of Frisco and Holdovers drafts, the 2013 and 2019 emails, the May 2021 draft, revisions, Payne-Hemingson communications and production records.
4. Expert comparison of the works.
5. Pretrial motions and, if not resolved earlier, trial.

No trial date, settlement or ruling had been confirmed as of October 30, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions About The Holdovers Copyright Lawsuit

Who is suing Alexander Payne over The Holdovers?

Screenwriter Simon Stephenson, who alleges the film copied his unproduced screenplay Frisco.

How many similarities does the lawsuit identify?

The complaint reportedly identifies 46 matching incidents, 24 of them in the same order. These are Stephenson’s allegations, not court findings.

Did Alexander Payne read Frisco?

Stephenson says Payne received it in 2013 through his producing partner Jim Burke and again in 2019 through a Netflix-related submission, and relies on emails to support access.

What is the medical conference line?

A May 2021 draft of The Holdovers reportedly has Angus say he is traveling for a medical conference, which fits Frisco but not the film’s story. The line was reportedly removed later.

What is the “Under Black” allegation?

Stephenson alleges both scripts use “Under Black” instead of the conventional “Over Black” direction, which his lawyers say suggests a shared source.

What did Payne say inspired The Holdovers?

He has pointed to the 1935 French film Merlusse and to Hemingson’s boarding-school pilot.

Did the Writers Guild find that The Holdovers copied Frisco?

No. The guild said plagiarism claims were not arbitrable under its procedures and referred Stephenson to counsel.

Is The Holdovers being removed from streaming?

No removal order has been identified. Stephenson is seeking an injunction, which no court has granted.

How much money is Stephenson seeking?

The reported complaint seeks actual damages, an injunction and attorney fees. No total dollar demand has been verified.

Has the lawsuit settled?

No settlement has been announced. The case was filed October 28, 2026.

Can viewers join the lawsuit?

No. It is an individual copyright case with no class or claim form.

Bottom Line: Why The Holdovers Copyright Lawsuit Matters

The federal court must decide whether The Holdovers was independently developed or used protected expression from Frisco. Stephenson relies on 46 alleged matching incidents, two alleged opportunities for Payne to read the script, an unexplained medical-conference line and a shared formatting error. The defense can contest the similarities, their originality and their significance, and can point to Merlusse, Hemingson’s pilot and his personal experience as competing sources.

As of October 30, 2026, no court has found infringement, no damages have been awarded and no injunction has issued. The defendants’ first formal responses and the discovery that follows will show how strong the case is.

Sources

1. Entertainment Weekly, Alexander Payne sued over allegations of plagiarism in script for Oscar-winning drama The Holdovers, October 28, 2026.
2. TheWrap, Alexander Payne Sued for The Holdovers Copyright Infringement by Luca Screenwriter, October 28, 2026.
3. Bloomberg Law, Director Payne Sued for Plagiarizing Holdovers Screenplay, October 29, 2026.
4. Variety, Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers Accused of Plagiarism by Luca Writer, March 11, 2024.
5. Filmmaker Magazine, Alexander Payne on The Holdovers.
6. TheWrap, The Holdovers Writer Says All of Paul Giamatti’s Best Lines Came Straight From His Uncle, January 26, 2024.
7. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The 96th Academy Awards.
8. 17 U.S.C. § 102, § 411 and § 504.
9. Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instructions, 17.17 Copying: Access and Substantial Similarity and 17.19 Extrinsic and Intrinsic Tests.

Researched and written by Israr Ahmad, legal content researcher and founder of AllAboutLawyer.com. All facts verified against Entertainment Weekly, TheWrap, Bloomberg Law and Variety reporting, 17 U.S.C. §§ 102, 411 and 504, and the Ninth Circuit model jury instructions, as of October 30, 2026. Last Updated: October 30, 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws vary by state and individual circumstances differ. For advice about your specific situation, consult a qualified attorney. The allegations in the lawsuit have not been proven, and Alexander Payne and the other defendants have not been found liable.