Jane Fonda not the only mother-in-law from hell

By Eriq Gardner

We hope that one day a studio gets around to making a film about a man who ends up at a mental ward from an unremitting paranoia that Hollywood is constantly stealing ideas from him. Perhaps the patient might end up at Oregon State Hospital, the institution where the 1975 movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was filmed.

Until then, we have uncreative, unimaginative "idea theft" lawsuits. Hollywood is plagued by them, and we can't help but chuckle at the sheer chutzpah of the things and ideas that people think they have ownership over. A month ago, we detailed the case of the duo who claimed ownership over the joke that foreigners can't pronounce English words like "hamburgers."

Now it's time to induct another into the copyright-run-amok Hall of Fame.

A North Carolina woman is suing not just the producers of the 2005 film "Monster-In-Law" but also actresses Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda, because the film portrayed--get this--an oddly familiar grating mother-in-law.

"I felt like I'd seen it before," plaintiff Sheri Gilbert told a newspaper about her first viewing of Monster-in-Law. "I felt I could predict what would happen in the next scene."

Yes, a Hollywood comedy felt recycled. Total shocker.

Gilbert says the movie had similarities to a script she wrote about her own mother-in-law problems and feels that entitles her to some of the $155 million the movie made worldwide. She's suing, and Warner Bros. is obviously seeking to dismiss the case.