The Artful Jurist

Remember that Witchdoctor song recorded decades ago by Alvin and the Chipmunks?  Remember last year’s Chipmunk movie, subtitled The Squeakquel?  Well, a jury just might not be able to get that “Ooh-eeh-ooh-ah-ah” melody out of its head if it ends up sitting in judgment on a lawsuit filed by a relative of the Chipmunks’ original creator against the producers of the film.

According to reports, the suit, filed in a Los Angeles federal court by a production company and Janice Karman, the daughter-in-law of Chipmunks’ creator, Ross Bagdasarian (a.k.a. David Seville in the original recordings), claims The Squeakquel was originally Ms. Karman’s script, although she says she never got paid for it.  The plaintiffs are seeking half of the more than $440 million profits earned by the film.

20^th Century Fox, which released the picture, contends that the claim is without merit.