Attorneys for The Walt Disney Company responded yesterday to the lawsuit* filed in March by Jake Mandeville-Anthony, who claims that Pixar stole the idea for the Cars franchise from him.
On Wednesday the presiding judge in the case rejected Disney’s application for an extension of their time to respond, which would have given them until July 8 to answer the complaint.
In the response, Disney denies “each and every one of Plaintiff’s legal claims concerning purported copyright infringement and substantial similarity of the parties’ respective works.”
Many of the arguments by defense attorneys Sandy Litvack and David Singer expose the madcap nature of Mandeville-Anthony’s case.
Incredibly, the unknown screenwriter only registered his works with the U.S. Copyright Office in September 2010, about 18 years after he says he created them, and six months before he filed suit.
There is also no record that Disney or Pixar ever received copies of Mandeville-Anthony’s works beginning in 1992, as he alleges in his complaint.
A hearing on Mandeville-Anthony's motion to obtain a pre-release copy of Cars 2 remains scheduled for June 6. Disney has offered to screen the film immediately for him and his attorneys at its Burbank, CA studios, subject to non-disclosure agreements.
After Cars 2 is released, Disney intends to request that the lawsuit be dismissed “with prejudice”, which would prevent it from being refiled. Failing this and other legal avenues, the case will go to a California jury.
*Jake Mandeville-Anthony v. The Walt Disney Company, et al. CV 11-2137-VBF(JEMx).
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11 comments:
Hope that guy'll enjoy his 15 minutes in the sun.
"Incredibly, the unknown screenwriter only registered his works with the U.S. Copyright Office in September 2010, about 18 years after he says he created them, and six months before he filed suit."
You don't know anything about the law, do you? Filing with the US Copyright Office is a waste of time as anything you put down on paper is copyrighted the moment the ink touches the paper (or your fingers strike the computer keys, in more modern parlance).
I assure you he only filed his work with the US Copyright Office because he talked to a lawyer who told him doing so would be a good way to protect himself before trial. There is no reason to ever file anything with the US Copyright Office except to try to protect yourself in court.
I really hope this guy is legit and wins to prevent us from ever being subjected to another stupid Cars movie from Pixar.
Goppy sucks.
Yo Goppy, Finn Mcmissile could kick your ass!!!
it wasnt copyright till Sep 2010, 18 years after he made them, 6 months before the suit was made, 4 YEARS AFTER CARS CAME OUT.
WHY DIDN'T HE COPYRIGHT IT 17 YEARS ERLIER.
I think everyone know Cars is just Doc Hollywood... but with cars...
Warner Bros, not Disn-- wait, forget I said anything!
Actually, screnwriters copywriting their works is common practice, so yeah, Goppy is wrong.
The real thing here is how close everything is. You can copyright a specific story, but not an idea.
If it's just basic ideas that are similar, well, the case will be easily thrown out of court.
Disneys' track record speaks for itself. Continued and ongoing theft of copyright material but this time may just be the one that brings them undone. Anthony is an established well known writer and has meticulous records as any writer should have - and would be foolish to represent anything other than the truth or he would be committing professional suicide. But the way Disney has put out the motorized drivel about copyright - what joke. Professional writers know how to protect themselves and should Disney think it can overturn this on technicalities, they should think again. Since it is public record Disney has been denied extension, doesn't that ring a few bells? Good luck Anthony
Oh, please. The guy is a complete unknown with no case. And who are you?
thank you mike, i find it incredible amazing he would bring "his story" to jim morris, then an executive at industrial light and magic which does special effects, not animation or even story telling for that matter, over ten years before he joined pixar. what incredible insight. but he als gave the story to pixar, which explains why pixar spent over four laborious years getting the story right. However im sure that these are just some regrettable coincidences and happenstances, just like he never filed suit against pixar with the first cars, or over the subsequent years when they were raking billions in merchandising, but waited until months before the sequel, 20 years after he "gave them" the idea" 8-7 years after the announcement of the original and five years after the opening of the original. i know our court system is slow but five years to press charges is b*** s***. this entire masquerade is a fakery, john lasseter and joe ranft cooked up cars not this dope.
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