Judge dismisses Disney and James Cameron 'Avatar' copyright lawsuit

A federal judge in Los Angeles has dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against Disney and director James Cameron regarding the 'Avatar' sequels, 'The Way of Water' and 'Fire and Ash'.

U.S. District Judge George Wu ruled that the plaintiff's work, a science fiction story titled 'KRZ' by 3-D animator Eric Ryder, does not share enough substantial similarities with the films to warrant a legal claim. While Ryder alleged that both his work and the 'Avatar' franchise feature anthropomorphic beings, vast ocean settings, and an Earth-based corporation conducting environmentally damaging mining on Jupiter's moon Europa, Judge Wu determined these elements constituted general ideas rather than protected copyrightable expressions.

Ryder had previously collaborated with Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment in the early 2000s. This ruling follows a similar legal defeat for Ryder in 2014 regarding the original 'Avatar' film.