An Alabama-based filmmaker, James Davis, has sued Ice Cube, Cube Vision Production and Metro Goldwin-Mayer (MGM) Studios for $100 million for copyright infringement, charging that his script was stolen and turned into the hit movie, “Barbershop.”

“This ain’t me just blowing smoke,” Davis said. “ If you read my script, you know they had my script. I wasn’t just some writer, I was going to shoot my film. They took my whole plot, characters and ideas.”

Davis said that he is suing “everybody that made ‘Barbershop,’” as well as other parties who, he feels, violated his trust. He said that he formally copyrighted “The Shop” with the Library of Congress in 1999, while he was still in college, and circulated his script in Hollywood to interest potential cast members. A breach of contract and copyright infringement lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, Aug. 7, in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

Davis said he isn’t out to gouge anybody for money but merely wants compensation for his intellectual property. “Give me what is due to me,” he said. “I had to file my suit before the statute of limitations ran out.”

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