‘The Return of the Living Dead’ in Legal Battle Ahead of Its 40th Anniversary: An Explainer *Update*
This article presents a timeline of events, a brief summary of the allegations, and speculation about what this legal battle could mean for fans.
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In August of 2025, fans of The Return of the Living Dead will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the beloved zombie comedy’s original release. However, those celebrations might not be as joyous as fans hope. That’s because, just as the road to four decades enters the homestretch, a legal battle is brewing over the rights to certain aspects of The Return of the Living Dead.
The Legal Complaint
On August 8th, 2024, a legal complaint was filed in the state of California by an attorney representing Living Dead Media LLC. The court document (which you can read here) was made public by Deadline who initially reported on the case the day the complaint was filed. To summarize, the complaint states that the plaintiff, Living Dead Media LLC (LDM), asserts that the defendants, ROTLD Originals LLC (ROTLD), are making false claims about their rights to certain aspects of The Return of the Living Dead which LDM claims to own the copyright and various trademarks for. Additionally, LDM claims that ROTLD is wrongfully issuing cease-and-desist letters to companies which LDM has entered into licensing agreements with.
So what’s this all really about? Who are the parties involved? I’m not a legal expert, but I am a huge fan of The Return of the Living Dead and have followed the goings-on with the franchise over the years. Presented here is what I’ve seen from the outside looking in, which will hopefully help anyone interested in following the continued development and resolution of this potential lawsuit.
** Update ** On September 23rd, 2024, the ROTLD Originals’ social media accounts announced that the case filed against them has been dropped! Court documents dated Sept. 18 show that the attorney representing Living Dead Media has filed for dismissal of the case “without prejudice.” More information is included in the article below.
Living Dead Media and Their Plans to Revive the Franchise
Living Dead Media is a limited liability company registered in California. The person listed in the official records as the agent for Living Dead Media is Stephen Wolsh. Stephen (Steve) Wolsh is a filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced the movies Muck (2015), Kill Her Goats (2023), and Fog City (2023) under the banner of a production company called WithanO Productions. If you look up the websites for Wolsh’s latest two films, Kill Her Goats and Fog City, you can see that both sites are associated with the “Living Dead Media” name (the site for Muck is no longer available, but images can be found in the Wayback Machine).
In 2021, Steve Wolsh ran a Kickstarter and an Indiegogo campaign to help fund the creation of a Return of the Living Dead website. Funding was successful, and the site—returnofthelivingdead.com—went live. The campaigns say that “the original rights holders and Wolsh have been slowly digging Return up towards a new fan site.” Lower down in the Kickstarter and Indiegogo descriptions is a paragraph that says, “over the past 5 years, filmmaker Steve Wolsh and Chris Fox have been digging up this awesome franchise.” It is further explained that Chris Fox is the son of the late Tom Fox who was a producer for the first three Return of the Living Dead movies, and an executive producer on the last two. Whether or not Chris Fox is (or was) the legal and sole holder of the rights to Return is not explicitly stated.
Regardless of what is written in the Kickstarter campaign, the court documents filed by Living Dead Media assert that they own “the copyright in and to the original screenplay and the underlying script” for the original Return of the Living Dead and “other trademarks.”
The declared purpose of the Return website includes the creation of newly licensed merchandise, “new media ventures,” and a brand-new feature film. The merchandise has been plentiful and steady since the launch of the site, with new Return of the Living Dead items for sale through a myriad of different retailers. The Kickstarter mentions that the new movie would come out in 2023. Horror fans know that didn’t happen, but if you’re subscribed to the Return of the Living Dead email list, then you’ll know that the plans for the film shifted.
Beginning in early 2024, emails describing a funding effort called “Project Brain Freeze” began to go out. Basically, the project includes the creation of a short film made to test practical effects for the new Tarman, and those effects will then be used in the feature film. Fans could help fund the project by buying products, film credits, and other perks directly through the Return site. It basically looks like a crowdfunding campaign much like you’d see on Kickstarter, but it is hosted and run completely by Living Dead Media. The text of Project Brain Freeze promises that the new, full-length Return of the Living Dead movie will be released in 2025. As of this writing (August 15th, 2024), the emails regarding the movie and the Tarman short have slowed, and the funding perks are no longer available to purchase on the Return website.
ROTLD Originals and Trash’s Revenge
On June 21st, 2024, an Indiegogo campaign was launched for a project called Trash’s Revenge. The campaign was created by Richard Driscoll of the micro-budget film studio DRagon Studios (aka DRagonFlix), and it describes Trash’s Revenge as a “new feature film” which is “part of the ROTLD Universe.” The star of the film will be Linnea Quigley, the iconic scream queen who played the character Trash in The Return of the Living Dead. Quigley will be joined by other cast members from the original movie including Thom Matthews (Freddy), Beverly Randolph (Tina), Miguel Núñez Jr. (Spider), John Philbin (Chuck), and Drew Deighan (one of the main paramedics).
In an interview with the horror site GBHBL, Quigley clarifies what Trash’s Revenge will be, saying it is not a sequel to Return of the Living Dead. Instead, it is a movie with a main character similar to Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) from Sunset Boulevard (1950). Linnea Quigley will play a vain starlet who is obsessed with fame, and who decides to start a zombie outbreak with barrels containing a substance that brings the dead back to life (called 2-4-5 Trioxin, Trioxin 5, or just Trioxin in the Return of the Living Dead movies).
The Indiegogo for Trash’s Revenge was online for a short period of time, but by the first week of July it had closed prematurely. On July 7th, 2024, a limited liability company called ROTLD Originals was created in California with Beverly Dawn Hartley listed as the LLC’s agent. Hartley, who is credited in her acting roles as Beverly Randolph, was also mentioned by Linnea Quigley in her GBHBL interview as a producer of Trash’s Revenge (along with Quigley herself).
Coinciding with the formation of ROTLD Originals LLC was the creation of a Facebook page for the company which had its first post on July 8th, 2024. The mission statement posted on the page says that their “goal is to stop the illegal use of [our] images and return the power” to the cast of The Return of the Living Dead. Also on July 8th, a video update was posted on DRagonFLIX’s YouTube channel (which was uploaded to the ROTLD Originals Facebook the following day). In the video, Linnea Quigley—apparently reading from a prepared statement—explains that “we’re investigating a scam” in which Living Dead Media “illegally claimed copyright ownership” and has been profiting without paying any royalties to “us” (presumably referring to the original cast members). She also says that a cease and desist letter has been sent to Living Dead Media.
Over the following few weeks, the ROTLD Originals Facebook page was very active, posting mostly images of the cast and announcements of their convention appearances. Of particular note are a few posts including a link to merchandise licensed by ROTLD Originals to the site 2die4 (2die4rva.com), a link to a new Originals website coming soon, and mentions that the Indiegogo campaign for Trash’s Revenge was back up before being taken down once again.
However, the most intriguing post on the ROTLD Originals Facebook is an image of the cease and desist letter sent to Steve Wolsh of Living Dead Media (originally posted July 14th, but the letter was sent before that date). The letter, signed by Beverly Randolph, specifically calls out the infringement of actors’ image rights. The assertion in the letter is that the actors in The Return of the Living Dead only gave the rights to the use of their images in the film itself and in advertising for the film. So, the point of contention is all of the merchandise licensed by Living Dead Media that features likenesses of the original cast. That’s what the ROTLD Originals want to stop, and it’s what they want compensation for.
Despite the ongoing issues, another video was posted on the DRagonFLIX’s YouTube (on August 5th) in which Linnea Quigley announces that the Indiegogo for Trash’s Revenge would soon be live once again. The date for the relaunch was August 16th… but August 8th was when Living Dead Media filed their legal complaint against ROTLD Originals. By August 15th, the Indiegogo page for Trash’s Revenge was changed from “upcoming” to “under review,” and none of the original information for the project is available to see.
Then, about six weeks after Living Dead Media officially filed the claim against the ROTLD Originals, the case was dismissed. The request for dismissal was filed by Steve Wolsh’s attorney on September 18th, 2024. The dismissal occurred after the lawyer for the ROTLD Originals—entertainment lawyer Larry Zerner—applied pressure in the form of a letter to Wolsh’s attorney. Zerner stated that he would file a motion of his own to have the case dismissed, and Wolsh would also have to pay all attorney fees (this information was provided to us by Jewel Shepard, who played Casey in the original movie). The pressure worked.
With the case against them dismissed, the original cast members have gone on the offensive. Beverly Randolph contacted us and said that Larry Zerner, on behalf of the ROTLD Originals, is seeking to negotiate a settlement with Steve Wolsh’s lawyer. This settlement would include compensation for the use of the original cast’s images on merchandise sold by Living Dead Media. If a settlement cannot be reached, then Zerner is prepared to file a complaint against Wolsh. That’s where the issue currently stands, but there will certainly be more news to come in the following days and weeks.
TL;DR Summary
Living Dead Media (LDM), a company operated by filmmaker Steve Wolsh, claims the copyright and various trademarks for the 1985 movie The Return of the Living Dead. For years, LDM has been making money from the sale of merchandise that uses imagery from the movie, some of which—as contended by ROTLD Originals (ROTLD)—uses the likenesses of the original cast. ROTLD claims ownership of their own likenesses from the film, saying that they never gave permission for their images to be used in anything other than the movie and advertising directly related only to the movie.
ROTLD wants compensation for money they say was gained by the illegal use of their likenesses. LDM wanted compensation for what they say are actions taken by ROTLD which are harmful to LDM’s business and reputation, but the legal complaint filed by Steve Wolsh’s Living Dead Media was dropped. However, the ROTLD Originals’ desire for compensation for the use of their images is still an ongoing issue.
Article Updates
This section will list all the important updates made to this article after its original posting on August 14th, 2024. This way anyone who has already read the article doesn’t have to search through everything to locate the latest developments in this ongoing issue.
- August 15, 2024 – The crowdfunding page for Trash’s Revenge was taken down completely on Indiegogo on the 15th, and it has remained that way since. The link to the campaign now goes to a page that just says, “‘TRASH’s REVENGE Return of the Living Dead Universe’ is under review. It is not accepting contributions.” As of this article’s August 19th update, no announcements regarding the campaign’s status have been made by DRagon Studios.
- August 16, 2024 – Beverly Randolph was kind enough to contact me through Facebook shortly after this article was first posted. Beverly confirmed that “We don’t know if Steve Wolsh has the rights to anything.” To reiterate, the ROTLD Originals aren’t officially contesting the rights to the movie, they’re just concerned with what they say is the use of their likenesses without permission. And, in regards to Living Dead Media licensing the ROTLD Originals’ images to vendors for use on merchandise, Beverly firmly states that cast approval was never given, saying, “We did not work with Steve Wolsh, we had no deal with him.“
- September 23, 2024 – Beverly Randolph, via the ROTLD Originals social media accounts, issued a statement announcing that the complaint against them has been dismissed by Steve Wolsh and Living Dead Media. Court filings show that the dismissal “without prejudice” was filed on September 18th, 2024.
Speculation About the Case, and Hopes for the Future
Both parties have movies announced as potentially coming out in time for the 40th anniversary of The Return of the Living Dead in 2025. I’m not certain where Living Dead Media’s movie stands right now, but if they do legally own the copyright to the original title and story (which is not being contested by ROTLD), then it shouldn’t be a problem for them to continue with what they’re planning.
Trash’s Revenge seems to be in a rough place right now, but I think it could still be made. As far as anyone has been told, the story itself isn’t a sequel, and it doesn’t even have to take place in the same continuity as the original movie. It could be like how the original Return is set in a world where Night of the Living Dead (1968) is a movie inspired by real events. If it is presented as an homage without actually using any specific names from the original, then I don’t see why it wouldn’t be allowed.
Trash’s Revenge isn’t actually named in Living Dead Media’s complaint, so the problem might be that the studio developing the movie, DRagon Studios, is overly cautious about potential infringements given the current legal troubles. The Indiegogo announcement videos do use the “Return of the Living Dead” title in fonts that could be mistaken for a version of what Living Dead Media uses, so maybe that’s part of the issue. Or maybe the script is too close to being considered part of the franchise. I don’t know, but I’m anxious to find out.
I just hope this doesn’t turn into another Friday the 13th situation where rights are held up for years and nobody gets what they want (especially the fans). Frankly, this case sounds a bit like the trouble the cast of The Blair Witch Project has over the continued use of their likenesses over the years. When it comes to the resolution of this tussle over The Return of the Living Dead, I know what seems fair and right to me. Really though, I just want it to end quickly and fairly so we can all get back to celebrating the greatest zombie comedy of all time.
