‘Scream’ Studios Launch Lawsuit Over Rights to Ghostface Mask

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The new Scream movie, the seventh in the series, is coming out later this month, and everyone is paying attention to the iconic Ghostface mask.

Alterian Ghost Factory, a Los Angeles effects studio known for creating realistic creatures and makeup effects, is considering a lawsuit against Spyglass and Paramount Pictures before the release of Scream 7 on February 27th. However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Spyglass and Paramount filed their own lawsuit on Friday, asking a federal court in California to rule that they haven’t done anything wrong and to prevent Alterian from suing them.

The iconic Ghostface mask from the Scream movies has a surprising origin: a producer found it while scouting locations in Northern California. The production team then bought the rights to use it from Fun World, a costume company that had been selling the mask since the early 1990s. However, Alterian, the company now suing Fun World, argues that they actually created the original design for the mask and therefore shouldn’t have allowed Fun World to license it.

The production companies’ lawsuit highlights that the mask has been officially used in every film in the long-running franchise.

For thirty years, Alterian deliberately didn’t enforce its claimed ownership of the famous ‘Ghostface’ mask from the Scream movies.

Paramount contends that the core of this disagreement lies between Fun World and Alterian. They argue that if Alterian was aware of Fun World’s licensing rights, they forfeited any claim to ownership of Ghostface by not taking action sooner. Furthermore, a previous 2020 ruling determined that Alterian’s CEO, Tony Gardner, knew about Fun World’s licensing agreement as early as 1996, and definitely by 2003, effectively preventing him from making a claim now. Despite this, Alterian’s lawyer, Brian Wheeler, stated the company still plans to file a lawsuit, saying the complaint will detail their position.

Don’t Get Caught Sleeping Around Ghostface


Paramount Pictures

With Scream 7 getting ready to start promoting itself, all the legal issues are a frustrating setback. The people involved in the lawsuit even find the timing questionable, as the film companies have noted.




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Alterian has never proven they legally own the rights to the Ghostface mask, and they can’t do so now. Trying to stop the release of a finished movie just weeks before it comes out – especially a seventh film in a series they’ve been aware of for thirty years – feels like an unreasonable attempt to get money.

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2026-02-08 17:47