Movies
James Cameron hit with 'Avatar' copywright lawsuit
Published Friday, Dec 9 2011, 10:02 GMT | By Daniel Sperling | 7 comments
James Cameron has been accused of stealing the plot of Avatar in a lawsuit launched by an ex-employee.
Eric Ryder filed a lawsuit on Thursday (December 8) against Cameron and his production company Lightstorm Entertainment, claiming that the director ripped off the story to a proposed film of his entitled K.R.Z. 2068, which he came up with while working at Lightstorm in 1999.
K.R.Z. 2068 was to be an "environmentally-themed 3D epic about a corporation's colonisation and plundering of a distant moon's lush and wondrous natural setting", which focused on "anthropomorphic, organically created beings populating that moon".
Another major plot point allegedly saw "a corporation spy" fall in love with a native and lead a rebellion against the humans, just as Sam Worthington's character does in Avatar.
Ryder was reportedly told in 2002 that K.R.Z 2068 had been rejected due to a belief that cinemagoers would not be interested in an environmentally-themed sci-fi.
He is seeking unspecified damages and a portion of the film's profit, having originally complained to Cameron's representatives when Avatar opened in 2009.
The lawsuit acknowledges Cameron's claim to have come up with the idea for Avatar and begun writing the film before Ryder dreamed up K.R.Z. 2068.
Avatar overtook Cameron's 1997 epic Titanic as the highest-grossing movie of all time with worldwide takings of $2.8billion (£1.7billion).
> Author sues James Cameron over 'Avatar'
Eric Ryder filed a lawsuit on Thursday (December 8) against Cameron and his production company Lightstorm Entertainment, claiming that the director ripped off the story to a proposed film of his entitled K.R.Z. 2068, which he came up with while working at Lightstorm in 1999.
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K.R.Z. 2068 was to be an "environmentally-themed 3D epic about a corporation's colonisation and plundering of a distant moon's lush and wondrous natural setting", which focused on "anthropomorphic, organically created beings populating that moon".
Another major plot point allegedly saw "a corporation spy" fall in love with a native and lead a rebellion against the humans, just as Sam Worthington's character does in Avatar.
Ryder was reportedly told in 2002 that K.R.Z 2068 had been rejected due to a belief that cinemagoers would not be interested in an environmentally-themed sci-fi.
He is seeking unspecified damages and a portion of the film's profit, having originally complained to Cameron's representatives when Avatar opened in 2009.
The lawsuit acknowledges Cameron's claim to have come up with the idea for Avatar and begun writing the film before Ryder dreamed up K.R.Z. 2068.
Avatar overtook Cameron's 1997 epic Titanic as the highest-grossing movie of all time with worldwide takings of $2.8billion (£1.7billion).
> Author sues James Cameron over 'Avatar'
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