A United States judge ruled in favor of Angelina Jolie on March 29, saying the director did not plagiarize the creation of In The Land of Blood and Honey from a Croatian journalist's novel.

Journalist James Braddock sued Jolie weeks before In the Land of Blood and Honey opened in theaters in the U.S. in late 2011. He claimed the film, which is about a love affair between opposing sides during the Bosnian Civil War, violated the copyright on his book The Soul Shattering.

Jolie, 37, directed, wrote and produced the film. The movie was also her directorial debut.

Braddock's lawsuit stated that one of the film's producers, Edin Sarkic, read The Soul Shattering and talked about the possibility of creating a film adaptation of the book. However, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee, said the book and film are not substantially similar to support claims of plagiarism. Braddock has been ordered to show cause as to why his lawsuit should not be dismissed on terms of prejudice, according to the Telegraph. 

Braddock's book Slamanje Duse was published in 2007 and a shorter form of it came out in English under the title The Soul Shattering, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The novel is set in 1992 in a small Bosnian village and features a Croat married to a Muslim. Their lives are torn apart by war but the strength of their love brings them back together. Braddock wrote the novel based on his experiences and historical facts.  

Read the court ruling in full here.

Gee noted some of the similarities in the two works - such as escape sequences and rape scenes - but said Braddock cannot claim he "invented the concept of rape as a war crime." They are not "substantial similar" and Gee explained "particularly in light of the fact that those overlapping concepts are commonplace in books and films depicting war."

"Blood and Honey is primarily a story of betrayal, revenge and tragedy with little or no hope, while Slamanje Duse focuses on family, love and strength," Gee added.

Tags: Angelina Jolie