Last September in U.S. District Court, Sophia Stewart began fighting a historic copyright infringement case against the Wachowski brothers, Joel Silver and Time Warner. The "Matrix Trilogy" is endeared to millions of cerebral chess players around the world for its coded themes pertaining to opposing forces battling for supremacy in a metaphysical "matrix."

The lawsuit, filed in 1999, resulted in an FBI investigation which uncovered uncanny similarities between "The  Third Eye" and "The Matrix." These allegations, though denied by Jeremy Williams of Warner, were corroborated by witnesses at company.  The story has been kept from the media, but went public in October 2003. Yet,  many still do not know about it.

In the mid-eighties, Stewart had actually responded to an ad from the Wachowski brothers for science-fiction manuscripts.  She had copyrighted "The Third Eye" in 1981  and in the subsequent conflict, stated that it was kept out of the media because of the influence of Time-Warner. The FBI also established similarities between her story and the "Terminator" franchise.

"The Matrix & Terminator movie franchises have made world history and have ultimately changed the way people view movies and how Hollywood does business, yet the real truth about the creator and creation of these films continue to elude the masses because the hidden secret of the matter is that these films were created and written by a Black woman... a Black woman named Sophia Stewart."

Actually Stewart has made a point not to base her claims on racial or gender discrimination, but  went on record to state, "Some people can't believe a Black woman wrote The Matrix or The Terminator. I didn't write it with my skin; I wrote it with my brain." The case is picking up momentum and will be heard in July 2005.

Read Google hits on Sophia Stewart

Read interview with Sophia Stewart (playahata.com)

The Chess Drum, "Matrix  Reloaded: A Chess Theme?"  7 May 2003.

The Chess Drum, "Amazing Special Effects in "Matrix Reloaded,"  15 May 2003.

Posted by The Chess Drum: 19 February 2005