A legal dispute over ownership rights to “Just Before Dawn,” a 1981 slasher film, concluded in early October when a Florida jury determined that David DeFalco, operator of Dark Force Entertainment, had infringed on the copyright held by Vlado Hreljanovic, who financed the film as a young man with his father, a Yugoslav film producer. The case centered on whether DeFalco had legitimate rights to license and distribute the film through various platforms, including the streaming service Shudder and physical media retailers.
Hreljanovic had agreed to a six-year licensing deal in 2012 with Bill Olsen’s Code Red DVD operation, which he allowed to lapse in 2018. DeFalco, who was Olsen’s business partner, claimed he received rights to the film from Olsen in 2022 to help finance Olsen’s medical care. He subsequently licensed the title to Shudder and sold DVDs through various retailers. When Hreljanovic discovered the film being distributed without his permission, he initiated litigation that would stretch across four years, naming multiple defendants including Olsen’s estate, Shudder’s parent company AMC Networks, and several major retailers.
Most defendants reached settlements, but DeFalco chose to continue the dispute, representing himself by the trial stage with assistance from artificial intelligence tools for legal documents. DeFalco had conducted extensive online livestreams promoting his position, using provocative language and imagery to rally supporters of what he characterized as a fight to preserve the cult DVD industry from what he called copyright abuses. Hreljanovic’s legal team argued that a key document transferring rights from Olsen to DeFalco was forged and presented documentation establishing Hreljanovic’s ownership claim extending back 45 years.
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