Smash Pictures, a Los Angeles-based adult film production company, has been slapped with a copyright lawsuit by Universal Studios.
Universal claims material from EL James' best-selling trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey, which has sold more than 60 million copies, was directly lifted.
It said Smash Pictures used dialogue, characters, events, story and style for Fifty Shades of Grey: A XXX Adaptation.
Universal, which has bought the film rights of the trilogy, said it is "a rip-off plain and simple".
"The first XXX adaptation is not a parody, and it does not comment on, criticise, or ridicule the originals," it said.
The lawsuit was filed by both Universal and James' British company, which owns the copyright to the novels first published in 2011.
It seeks unspecified damages, an injunction and aims to recoup any profit from sales of their adaptation.
Two subsequent movies by Smash Pictures were reportedly in production, claims Universal.
Smash Pictures has yet to comment on the legal action.
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