DVD (or VHS) cover art that misrepresents how much screen time a very well-known actor or actress may or may not have had in the film being promoted is nothing new, especially to the longtime home entertainment media consumer. Some of the more low-rent distributors will do just about anything to ship copies of the crappy flicks that have sitting around in their warehouse collecting dust, even if it means engaging in blatant false advertising. Honestly, what do they care? If burning off every last shred of moral fiber in their being means they’ll be able to move five more copies of some godawful public domain movie with video and audio quality that would be an epic overstatement to call sub-par off the shelves of Big Lots, then the only question they’ll ask is, “Got a match?”

The release of the upcoming sci-fi thriller In Time has just come across an obstacle that no one in their right mind ever wants to encounter, and his name is Harlan Ellison.

The prolific, award-winning writer who has been working his literary majesty in print, film, and on television over the course of nearly six decades has filed a lawsuit in California federal alleging that the 20th Century Fox film, which stars Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried and is written and directed by Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, Lord of War), is an uncredited adaptation of his classic 1965 short story “Repent Harlequin! Said The Ticktockman”.