Disney has been cleared of copyright infringement in a lawsuit over the animated film Moana.
The move came after a jury in Los Angeles ruled in favour of the entertainment giant, with the verdict delivered on Monday (March 10) following a two-week trial in federal court.
Buck Woodall, a screenwriter based in New Mexico, had filed the lawsuit in 2020, alleging Moana was based on his work Bucky the Wave Warrior.
An eight-member jury ruled unanimously Disney did not have access to Woodall’s 2011 screenplay or earlier treatments.
After deliberating for less than three hours, jurors determined access had not been established, making it unnecessary to assess whether the two works were substantially similar.
Woodall alleged both projects centred on teenagers who defy their parents to embark on perilous journeys to save a Polynesian island.
He also cited other similarities, including celestial navigation, a tattooed demigod and surviving a storm at sea.
According to Buck, he pitched the project in 2004 to his sister-in-law’s stepsister, who was then an assistant at a live-action production company on the Disney lot.
The assistant later inquired whether Walt Disney Animation Studios would accept a submission but was informed that it would not.
Disney argued Moana was independently developed years later and said no evidence linked Buck’s work to the filmmakers.
The company’s lawyers pointed to key differences between the two works with its legal team saying in a motion: “Bucky is white; Moana is Oceanian. Bucky is from the mainland US; Moana is indigenous to the fictional island of Motunui.
“Bucky lives in the modern day; Moana lives millennia in the past. Bucky is an ordinary teen; Moana is the future chief of her people. Bucky wants to learn to surf, while Moana wants to continue her people’s proud history as the greatest ocean voyagers the world has ever known.”
A judge ruled in November most of Buck’s claims were barred by the statute of limitations, as the film was released in 2016.
But a claim against Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Disney’s home video subsidiary, was allowed to proceed due to the DVD release in 2017.
Following the verdict, Disney’s lawyers declined to comment.
Buck’s lawyer said he was “disappointed” and would consider his client’s options.
Buck also filed a separate lawsuit in January this year, alleging Moana 2 infringes on his work — with the case remaining pending.
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