Don’t slam professional tennis.
That’s the message being served by the United States Tennis Association, which is suing the makers of a new documentary on Venus and Serena Williams for copyright infringement, claiming they used unflattering footage — including Serena’s infamous outburst during the 2009 US Open — without permission.
“The USTA declined [the] request to include certain footage which the USTA determined was not in the best interest of the sport,” according to the complaint.
The suit filed Friday in White Plains federal court seeks a permanent injunction against “Venus and Serena,” which opened last month in limited release. The film was expected to air on Showtime, but yesterday the pay-TV channel said it is in “discussions with the filmmakers and their representations about this film.”
The USTA contends that broadcast journalists Maiken Baird and Michelle Major, along with VSW Productions, included footage that “the USTA made clear it would not license for use in the film.”
The documentary shows Serena’s 2009 tirade at the US Open semifinals in which she waved a tennis ball at a line judge, warning she would “shove it down” her throat.
“What is the USTA afraid of? We’re shocked by this shameful effort to interfere with telling the story of the two most iconic female athletes in American history — a film that they have supported and collaborated on for years,” Baird and Major said in a statement.
The filmmakers have the support of one sister. Serena, who, speaking last month at the New York premiere of the movie, called it “a really great film” and said the producers were “wonderful.”
Venus reportedly withdrew her support because of the way it portrayed her father, Richard Williams, as a playboy.