Proceedings have been issued in a California district court against the director of the ‘Avatar’ film franchise, James Cameron, his production company, Lightstorm Entertainment, and various Disney entities for alleged copyright infringement relating to the 2022 film, Avatar: The Way of Water.
The claimant, Eric Ryder, a 3D animator, claims to have worked with Lightstorm Entertainment in the late 1990s on a science fiction movie based on a story called ‘KRZ’ and claims that James Cameron copied elements of the story ‘KRZ’ in Avatar: The Way of Water, including the anthropomorphic protagonists and Earth-based corporations engaging in harmful mining operations. The KRZ project was cancelled by Lightstorm Entertainment after reportedly informing Ryder that no-one would watch a sci-fi film which is based on environmental damage.
In his complaint, Ryder seeks more than $500 million in punitive damages as well as a court order blocking the upcoming release of the third Avatar film, Avatar: Fire and Ash. The timing of Ryder’s action is curious given the new film is set to release later this week on Friday 19th December, so time is of the essence if he is to prevent its release.
Interestingly, Ryder also issued proceedings in 2011 in respect of Cameron’s first Avatar film (released 2009) on a similar basis, though at that time a California court found that Cameron had created Avatar prior to Ryder’s submission of ‘KZR’ to Lightstorm. Ryder’s pleadings, however, state that the current action is not an attempt to relitigate the previous action, but is based upon new acts of copyright infringement.
If you have any questions on the above, or if you need any advice or support in respect of your own Intellectual Property, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
