In a year already dominated by high-stakes merger talks and mounting political scrutiny, Paramount Global is facing fresh legal pressure from the estate of legendary broadcaster Paul Harvey over a 2008 radio segment, issuing an additional grievance over not including the rest of the story.
At the center of the copyright lawsuit, filed June 23 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, is Paramount’s hit streaming series Landman, which allegedly incorporated nearly 90 seconds of Harvey’s The Rest of the Story into the Season 1 finale without permission or licensing fees.
The complaint, filed by Paulynne Inc., which controls Harvey’s intellectual property, centers on a 2008 broadcast titled “Gas Crisis.” In the original segment, Harvey discussed oil’s global impact before ultimately advocating for alternative fuels — a crucial conclusion Landman omits. Attorneys argue the selective edit twists Harvey’s intent, effectively turning him into an unwitting voice for the show’s broader “fossil fuel propaganda.”
“In the world of audio licensing, 90 seconds is an eternity,” said Pelosi Wolf Spates LLP Partner Jaime Wolf, who serves as Paulynne’s lead attorney. “Paramount not only grabbed a long, copyrighted audio clip without our client’s permission, but they also twisted the intent of Mr. Harvey’s words by editing his original broadcast. Mr. Harvey might not have put it this way, but that takes a lot of chutzpah.”
The lawsuit also points to prior unauthorized uses of Harvey’s voice in deepfake political campaign materials for Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump. In those cases, cease-and-desist demands were met without litigation. “But when our firm sent Paramount a letter offering a settlement, Paramount failed to respond despite numerous attempts to reach them,” Wolf said.
Despite Landman’s estimated $150 million production budget, Wolf claims Paramount never approached the estate for licensing, even after Paulynne contacted the studio earlier this year to resolve the dispute. The suit seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of profits, statutory damages up to $150,000 per infringement, attorneys’ fees, and other remedies.
Paramount has not yet responded publicly to the suit.
