Writer Says 'Yellowstone' Copied Her 2016 Pitch in Suit Against Taylor Sheridan and Paramount

Lauren J. Salkin's complaint, filed in California on August 21, 2026 and reviewed by TheWrap, says pitch materials titled 'Sovereign Nation' went to Sheridan's production company in 2016 and 2017. Paramount, NBCUniversal and 101 Studios are among the co-defendants.

Taylor Sheridan, the creator of "Yellowstone," was sued for copyright infringement by a writer over her 2016 series pitch. Lauren J. Salkin, a Virginia-based entertainment journalist and television writer, filed the complaint in California on Friday, August 21, 2026. TheWrap reported the filing after obtaining and reviewing the legal documents. The outlet's account does not give a case number or name the court. It describes no answer or statement from the defendants.

The claim does not stop at Sheridan. Salkin also sued Paramount and NBCUniversal, TheWrap reported. John Linson, Art Linson, Bosque Ranch Productions, Linson Entertainment and 101 Studios are named as co-defendants. At issue is a franchise that ran five seasons on the Paramount Network. It produced spinoffs including "1883," "1923," "Marshals" and "Dutton Ranch." Per the filing, a share of what all of it earned is on the table.

The stakes are ordinary Hollywood ones: authorship, access and money. A writer who says she was turned down wants a cut of what a franchise made. Nothing has been decided.

What the complaint alleges

Salkin submitted a pilot script and other materials titled "Sovereign Nation" to Sheridan's production company in 2016 and 2017, per the complaint as described by TheWrap. She was told the materials had been reviewed by Sheridan, the filing says, citing a note from Elevate Entertainment: "Taylor thanks you very much for your interest. Unfortunately, he's unavailable for TV projects."

Months later, per the complaint, Paramount green-lit "Yellowstone." The series premiered on the Paramount Network in June 2018.

The filing does not rest on the premise of a Western. It alleges a set of specific choices carried over, TheWrap reported:

• a tribal casino as the institutional center of political and development power;
• a confrontation staged in the tribal chairman's casino office over expansion past reservation boundaries;
• trust land, an absence of zoning restrictions and a 99-year lease as the mechanism of that expansion;
• recurring master-plan imagery.

The complaint also alleges overlapping plot material about land and development. It includes a character-by-character breakdown.

The filing draws the line itself, in a passage quoted by the outlet:

"Copyright law does not protect the abstract idea of a Western, a land dispute, an Indian casino, or a powerful family — and that is not Plaintiff's claim."

The infringement alleged lies in copying Salkin's particular expressive choices, the complaint continues. It points to the way those choices were selected and arranged.

Two further allegations go to access. Salkin's original pitch deck named Danny Huston and Gil Birmingham as potential fits for her project, per the filing. Both were later cast in "Yellowstone." She also says she met about "Sovereign Nation" with a senior HBO scripted-television executive. That executive had rejected Sheridan's "Yellowstone" pitch in spring 2017 over similarities to her work, she says.

What is being asked for, and what is not known

The complaint seeks an injunction against continued and future infringement, TheWrap reported. It also seeks unspecified damages, including profits from the "Yellowstone" franchise, and a jury trial. TMZ first reported the lawsuit.

Representatives for Sheridan, Paramount and NBCUniversal did not respond to TheWrap's request for comment, the outlet said. No defense filing is described in the available reporting. None of the allegations has been tested in court.

"Yellowstone" starred Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley and Cole Hauser. They played the Duttons, Montana cattle ranchers defending their land. Sheridan's other Paramount series include "Mayor of Kingstown," "Tulsa King," "Lioness," "Landman" and "The Madison." He is set to move to NBCUniversal under a deal beginning January 1, 2029.

Source: thewrap.com, retrieved August 22, 2026.