Pirates of the Caribbean Lawsuit

[Mr. Mickey]

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/11/15/colorado-pirates-of-the-caribbean-lawsuit/

 

[maltdizzy]

These are really hard cases to win unless you have have evidence of conscious theft and/or deception, which would require witnesses or emails/memos internal to Disney. I don't see any mention of a grievance through the WGA, so I guessing there isn't a lot of hard evidence.

Tess Gerritsen could connect most of the dots for her "Gravity" lawsuit, even had a contract with WB, and still couldn't even get the case heard.

 

[bladiator]

"In particular, the screenwriters claim they “created an entirely new genre of pirate, which had never been used previously. A concept, such as Captain Jack Sparrow as a new funny pirate, who is not feared and is repeatedly referred to as a good man. The screenwriters’ intent was to veer from the historical depiction of pirates to create an entirely new concept of a pirate.”"

This part is the most iffy of them all (depending on if you believe the Disney side of the account). If I recall correctly, in the book DisneyWar, they talked about the original script readthrough and how Johnny Depp came all eye-shadowed and makeup heavy and did all his lines like the Sparrow we know now and that was not how the original script writers had planned on it being. I only bring this up because the writer of DisneyWar talked to numerous people in researching his book, so it'd be impressive to say the least if everyone that had an eyewitness to this were able to keep their stories straight just to stay out of a lawsuit.

 

[ShadeDK]

Here's all you need to know about this lawsuit: the attorneys who filed it are with small, local law firms that specialize in divorce, criminal defense and personal injury. These are not IP or copyright lawyers (and it's unlikely that they're just local counsel for a bigger firm that's calling the shots). Although the screenwriters may honestly believe they have a claim, legally this looks like a nuisance suit. Ask this question: if you believed that Disney had stolen your original ideas for a film, would you wait nearly twenty years and five films later before doing anything? I wouldn't expect this one to be around too long.

 

[Mr. Mickey]

Ask this question: if you believed that Disney had stolen your original ideas for a film, would you wait nearly twenty years and five films later before doing anything? I wouldn't expect this one to be around too long.

Well exactly that’s just one of a million reasons why this case is truly nothing. Of course you don’t wanna go in completely unprepared but honestly is there really that much to worry about?

 

[Roxyfire]

People file these suits all the time, not just against movie studios but also musicians and other artists. All in hopes they'll get a settlement out of court, much like patent trolls. It's another form of income for these people. Even if they talked about the idea with someone who then ended up benefiting from it, it's very hard to prove.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

I hate this type of lawsuit. They are so irritatingly inaccurate and continue to cause problems for less experienced commercial artists who don't understand what's going on contractually.

You know how when your kid wants to send a picture or a letter to a magazine? You remember the part of the fine print that says, "All submissions become the property of __________"?

Yeah, student screenwriters? Sorry to point this out to you, but you presented your screenplay to Disney. You took all that hard work from your imagination, put it on paper, and then GAVE it to Disney. That is the two-edged sword of being the originator of creative content - if the Act of Sharing grants Ownership and Use to the company.... well... you take the chance that Disney might *gasp* make a movie with animated animals, or you self-produce and spend years trying to market your own product. That is just how the industry works, and wasting people's time and money with lawsuits.... well, it just isn't going to get you hired by major movie studios.

They might have dreamed up a "The Good Pirate" idea to be used in a movie, but sorry, Johnny Depp created the character design for Captain Jack Sparrow (the staggering, the voice, the make-up), and FURTHERMORE the Imagineers created the Disney Ride many years ago, so really the only ones who "own" anything Pirate-like in this instance actually IS Disney. No Disney Ride? No need for a movie franchise, no need to cast Johnny Depp, no need to invite submissions of pirate-related screenplays.

And augh, it says so RIGHT HERE:
"The lawsuit says, “every young screenwriter dreams of writing that fresh and creative script that can catch the attention of a major film studio. The opportunity to have a major film studio, such as defendants, take a screenwriter’s original spec screenplay and turn the work into a major motion picture."

Those very words mean, "We will NOT allow you to have 100% creative control. Once you sign that document, it's not yours anymore."

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Here's all you need to know about this lawsuit: the attorneys who filed it are with small, local law firms that specialize in divorce, criminal defense and personal injury. These are not IP or copyright lawyers (and it's unlikely that they're just local counsel for a bigger firm that's calling the shots). Although the screenwriters may honestly believe they have a claim, legally this looks like a nuisance suit. Ask this question: if you believed that Disney had stolen your original ideas for a film, would you wait nearly twenty years and five films later before doing anything? I wouldn't expect this one to be around too long.

This is a valid point. I would have agreed fully up until the last several weeks.

If one had been harassed or abused, would he or she wait over twenty years to say anything about it? Apparently so.

Perhaps the screenwriters and attorneys were inspired by all of the allegations of 30+ year old crimes getting so much attention and action.