According to reports, the US District Court for the Central District of California has dismissed the copyright lawsuit brought by creator Eric Ryder against Disney and director James Cameron. Ryder claimed that two Avatar sequels, Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar: Fire and Ash, borrowed from his story KRZ, which he developed between 1996 and 2001 and pitched to Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment in 2000. According to Bloomberg Law, the court said in a tentative ruling that the similarities alleged were rooted either in a draft that Cameron created before KRZ or in the first Avatar film, which a different court had previously found did not improperly take from KRZ; the other alleged similarities were broad, unprotectable ideas or flowed naturally from unoriginal premises. Reports say the court then issued its ruling dismissing the case and that Ryder has said he will appeal rather than amend his complaint again.
The case shows that public debate about copying often starts from similar settings, themes and worlds, whereas copyright analysis has to separate abstract ideas from concrete expression. The US Copyright Office states that copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems or methods of operation, although it may protect the way they are expressed. Works that look alike are not necessarily substantially similar in protected expression.
J&C recommends that businesses creating short dramas, novels, games and short videos assess separately the ideas they are free to use and the concrete expression that may be protected when drawing on others' themes and settings, avoiding copying specific plot arrangements, character relationships and detailed description; keep systematic records of their own creative process, including dated first drafts, outlines and revisions, to show independent creation or earlier conception if accused of copying; and set up logging and separation procedures when receiving outside submissions or pitches.
Source: news.bloomberglaw.com | plagiarismtoday.com | www.copyright.gov
