The Napptural grapevine has been abuzz for quite awhile with news about actor and comedian Chris’ Rock‘s much anticipated production titled “Good Hair“, a documentary about the politics, practices and preoccupation surrounding black hair. Rock states the inspiration for the movie came from a question his daughter posed concerning her own hair, but according to independent filmmaker and Virgin Moon Entertainment, Inc. President Regina Kimbell, Rock‘s inspiration was her own documentary effort “My Nappy Roots” which was released in 2005 on a smaller scale. Citing that she screened the movie for Rock back in 2007 and from there he copied her brainchild, Kimbell is seeking five million dollar in damages from Rock and several production companies, as well as an injunction to block the release of Rock‘s film.
Being a writer, when I first heard the news I could empathize with Ms. Kimbell‘s pain in a sense. As a creative there is nothing worse than putting your hard work into a product and having it “stolen” from you. Comments across the Internet empathized with her too, likening this incident to the Sophia Stewart lawsuit, which alleged that the Wachowski Brothers stole her idea and turned it into the highly popular Matrix franchise. While I seriously could understand Kimbell‘s frustration, I could not go as far as to agree with these sentiments. First reason, “My Nappy Roots” was a completed production when Rock saw it, and being that it is not a work of fiction it can not be considered an original idea. By definition a documentary is a film that seeks to document a “factual” account of something. It is normally neutral in theme and provides the opinions of interview subjects to provide perspective on whatever the topic is being documented. To date there are a number of documentaries about black hair and the black hair care industry — “400 Years Without a Comb“, “Black Hair: The Korean Takeover” and “Natural Woman” just to name a few — and each of them share similar elements due to the “limited” sources available on the topic. So if Rock did steal Kimbell‘s idea, wouldn’t that lead us to wonder who Kimbell stole it from originally? Okay, let’s say Chris did get his inspiration from seeing the screening, and go even further to say that many of the scenes in “Good Hair” do mimic those of “My Nappy Roots.” What he did was expanded on the idea by taking what was presented, conducting “his own” research, setting up “his own” interviews and using his own resources to re-presented the topic from his perspective. He did not use any of Kimbell‘s footage or materials and so, he’s covered by fair use of an idea.
In the case of Sophia Stewart, as the story goes, the idea stolen was an unpublished, copyrighted screenplay she claims to have submitted to Andy and Larry Wachowski. If that is what happened (the case was dismissed in 2005 due to Stewart not showing up to court so infringement was never proven), it differs greatly from Kimbell‘s allegations as “Third Eye” was the “original” fictive work of Stewart first, and used wholly or in part in the fictive work of the Wachowski Brothers. Under US copyright law, if any elements that existed in “The Matrix” could be proven to have been derived directly from Stewart‘s copyrighted manuscript (i.e. character names, locations, dialogue) and she was not credited or compensated, then infringement can be charged. This can not be considered the same for the argument between “Good Hair” and “My Nappy Roots.“
In my opinion, I think the lawsuit is a waste of time and born of Kimbell‘s frustration that an idea similar to one she had is being produced on a bigger scale than she was able to manufacture. Nothing more, nothing less. I’m not an attorney, nor do I play one on T.V., but I think Kimbell is splitting hairs (pun intended) when it comes to copyright law in this case, and filed suit in order to gain more attention for her work, which has won awards but gone largely ignored outside of some natural hair circles and media venues.
What say you, black hair community?
Healthy Hair Wishes!
