If you haven’t seen Top Gun Maverick yet, you need to ASAP! I would recommend to see it in IMAX!
Well, the original "Top Gun" was based on a 1983 magazine story called "Top Guns", by a guy named Ehud Yonay, according to Hollywood Reporter. Well, his heirs are taking advantage of a provision in copyright law that allows authors to reclaim the rights to their works after 35 years. They say Paramount didn't renew the rights to the original article before making the sequel. Cases like this might become more common, as studios continue to revive older franchises.
One of the lawyers representing the Yonay family also represented the writers of the original "Predator" movie, who sued 20th Century to regain the rights to their screenplay. He's also representing the heirs of some comic book writers, who want to regain the rights to characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.