In 2001, Hudson, a playwright and author, filed a $100 million copyright infringement lawsuit against several defendants, most notably Universal Studios and Eddie Murphy. Hudson claims the 1999 film “Life,” starring Murphy, was illegally based on his play “No Harm, No Foul.”
   Hudson’s lawsuit was dismissed several times by different judges. He is planning to appeal yet again.
   In an April 2004 decision granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants and dismissing Hudson’s complaint, U.S District Judge Frederic Block wrote, “After reading the scripts and viewing the movie and the play, the court concludes that no reasonable jury could find a substantial similarity between the protected elements of ‘No Harm, No Foul’ and ‘Life.’ To be sure the two works share common aspects – for example, both involve false accusations against an African-American male, both have prison-like settings and both involve escape attempts – but these similarities are not particularly emblematic of creative expression.”
   Block’s decision lists some of the dozens of similarities Hudson claimed existed between the play and film – for instance female characters in both works show cleavage “to appear sexy and seductive.” In both there is a scene where “a character consumes bootleg whiskey,” but the judge concludes these similarities are either too small or too common to the genre to be protected by copyright.
   The 2004 court document also states, that in further support of his position the defendants infringed on his work, Hudson makes a variety of other claims including that his retention of a law firm in this matter should be taken as evidence of their culpability. As with the rest of Hudson’s arguments, the court found these to be meritless.
   Hudson considers the several dismissals against his case to be “illegal” and an “unfair shake,”adding, “Eddie Murphy, Heavy D, and Universal stole my work, and the courts are protecting them.”
   Hudson will conclude his run on Friday by filing another appeal. “I will be carrying the brief, however heavy it is, and I will walk into the Second Court of Appeals,” he said. “Instead of driving there in a suit and tie like I did last time, I am going to run with the briefs on my back.”
   The route he plans to run would take him through three boroughs: Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. “I’ve never run this far before,” Hudson said. “I’ve run half marathons.” Half marathons are 13 miles.
   Hudson had a lawyer originally, but has been representing himself since 2003.
   “Although the battle probably would have broken the average person a long time ago, it’s really not that big a deal for me. It doesn’t consume my life,” Hudson said. “It’s 10 years now, but I’m fully prepared to go another 10 years or 15.”
   Hudson’s website, Poor Penny Productions, Inc, which has not been updated recently, has a page saying “Vote Gregory L. Hudson for Mayor of New York City in 2009.” Hudson, who is not listed as a mayoral candidate, said he was seriously considering a mayoral run until the term limits were overturned. He gave up when he realized he would have to run against the incumbent mayor. “I don’t fight battles for the sake of just fighting them,” he said. “I fight battles I think I can win.”