What do you know today that you didn't know yesterday?

[Rev. Rye]

Evidently, Internet Historian isn’t the only person to face plagiarism accusations after making something about the Floyd Collins case.

After the [release of 1951’s Ace in the Hole], Wilder, who co-wrote the screenplay as well as directed and produced the film, was sued for plagiarism by actor and aspiring screenwriter Victor Desny, who claimed he had contacted Wilder’s secretary, Rosella Stewart, to propose a film based on the Collins story.

Wilder’s lawyers protested that this verbal summary did not make it a formal story submission and that the Collins story was historical and not governed by copyright laws.

In 1953, a judge ruled in favor of Wilder and Paramount, the distributor of the film, but in 1956 the California State Supreme Court overturned that decision, saying the oral submission had been legitimate. Wilder settled, paying roughly $15,000.