Faulknerian dramas center on such fictional characters as Caddy Compson, Thomas Sutpen, Flem Snopes, and as of last week, filmmaker Woody Allen.

Faulkner Literary Rights L.L.C., owner of the late William Faulkner’s literary estate, alleged in a lawsuit that Sony Pictures Classics Inc. unfairly used a quote from the author in its 2011 film “Midnight in Paris,” written and directed by Woody Allen.

In the lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, Western Division, in Oxford, Miss., Faulkner Literary Rights claimed that New York-based Sony Pictures inappropriately used Mr. Faulkner’s famous quote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past,” from his 1950 novel “Requiem for a Nun.”

In the film, Owen Wilson’s character, a Hollywood screenwriter vacationing in Paris says: “The past is not dead! Actually, it’s not even past. You know who said that? Faulkner. And he was right. And I met him, too. I ran into him at a dinner party.”

Charlotte, Va.-based Faulkner Literary Rights alleged copyright infringement on behalf of Sony Pictures, which did not receive permission to use Mr. Faulkner’s words before creating and distributing the film, according to the lawsuit.

The use of the quote “is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake, and/or to deceive (the) film’s viewers as to a perceived affiliation, connection or association between William Faulkner and his works, on the one hand, and Sony, on the other hand,” according to the lawsuit.

Sony Pictures reportedly called the lawsuit “frivolous” and will defend itself against the allegations.

“There is no question this brief reference — 10 words — to a quote from a public speech Faulkner gave constitutes fair use and any claim to the contrary is without merit,” said Ann Boyd, senior vice president of global communications for Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., in news reports.

Faulkner Literary Rights seeks compensatory damages and punitive damages, among others.

Mr. Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949.