French writer loses Syriana case

George Clooney won a best supporting actor Oscar for Syriana

A French screenwriter who claimed the Oscar-winning film Syriana plagiarised one of her scripts has lost her case.

A Paris court found that Stephanie Vergniault had not provided sufficient evidence that the political thriller was based on her screenplay, Oversight.

Ms Vergniault, 37, was ordered to pay 3,500 euros (£2,400) in court costs to Warner Bros and George Clooney's production company Section Eight.

Clooney won an Oscar this year for his role in the political thriller.

The film was written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, who also wrote the screenplay for Traffic.

He said the script, which investigates the oil industry's relationship with politics, was based on an autobiography by CIA officer Robert Baer.

Ms Vergniault also admitted reading Mr Baer's book, but said it was not the source material for the scenes in Syriana that she claimed were copied from her script.

The screenwriter had been seeking 2m euros (£1.4m) in damages from the makers of Syriana.