On Christmas Eve, a federal judge indicated that he will grant 20th Century Fox's claim of copyright ownership in the coming Warner Bros. movie Watchmen, according to Lauren Schuker of the Wall Street Journal. "Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the Watchmen motion picture," the ruling read.
In a hearing this fall, Judge Gary Feess said he thought the case required a trial to reach resolution, and scheduled one for January. But, due to time pressure, he reconsidered. (The film comes out in less than 72 days.) The judge advised the studios to focus on reaching a settlement or appealing the decision.
Fox bought the rights to "Watchmen" in the 1980s for one of its top producers, Lawrence Gordon (of Diehard fame). But the studio eventually abandoned its plans to make the film and Gordon took the film to Warner Bros., with Zack Snyder directing.
In a statement after the ruling, Warner Bros. says they stand by their set release date of March 6.

