Steven Stealberg?

The legal battle continues to rage over the making of Steven Spielberg's new movie, Amistad. Barbara Chase-Riboud, an award-winning black writer, wants a Los Angeles court to stop the movie opening as scheduled on Dec. 10 because she claims Spielberg has stolen her book about a slave revolt. Spielberg's lawyer dismisses the claim and accuses her of "trying to own history." He also branded her book, "Echo of Lions," wordy, dull, confusing and phoney. The novel had been submitted to a Spielberg company in 1989 but rejected. The writer's lawyers say that although the book is based on a true story, it also invents many incidents which didn't occur in real life, including a meeting between two of the major characters. These incidents also appear in the film. Despite efforts at mediation, neither side is prepared to budge and the film - hoped to be one of the big Christmas films - may yet have its release blocked.