Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' Gets Entangled in Visual-Effects Lawsuit
18 July 2017 - 05:31AM
Dow Jones News
By Ben Fritz
A lawsuit against Walt Disney Co. has roped the entertainment
giant into a long-running legal dispute over ownership rights to a
visual-effects technology, potentially threatening the company's
ability to profit from the top-grossing movie so far this year.
Rearden LLC, a company controlled by Silicon Valley entrepreneur
Steve Perlman, on Monday sued Disney in U.S. District Court in San
Francisco, alleging copyright, patent and trademark infringement,
stemming from Disney's use of a facial-capture technology in the
March blockbuster "Beauty and the Beast," as well as 2014's
"Guardians of the Galaxy" and 2015's "Avengers: Age of Ultron."
Rearden is seeking injunctions to stop Disney from selling or
showing these movies until the two companies reach a deal.
The dispute centers on a technology called MOVA Contour. In
"Beauty and the Beast," it was used to turn actor Dan Stevens'
facial performance into that of the beast. In "Guardians" and "Age
of Ultron," it was used in the portrayal of the alien Thanos.
The lawsuit alleges Disney knew, or should have known, that
Rearden -- not Digital Domain, the visual-effects firm Disney paid
for the work -- had sole rights to MOVA.
Disney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since 2015, Rearden has been fighting in court against companies
affiliated with Digital Domain over MOVA.
Various studios have used the technology, with no resulting
legal conflict, in films including "The Curious Case of Benjamin
Button," "Gravity" and Disney's "Tron: Legacy." Mr. Perlman has
alleged a former employee stole the technology and unlawfully sold
it to the Digital Domain-affiliated companies.
In June, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction
preventing Digital Domain from continuing to use MOVA. A trial in
the case was held in December, and a ruling is pending.
Digital Domain didn't immediately respond to a request for
comment.
MOVA was launched to much fanfare in 2006 by Mr. Perlman, a
former Apple Inc. executive best known for selling WebTV to
Microsoft Corp. in 1997. The system, which translates an actor's
movements to a digital character, won a science and technology
Academy Award in 2015.
In the lawsuit filed Monday, Rearden alleges that Disney should
have known the technology didn't belong to Digital Domain because
in 2013, its movie studio considered acquiring the technology from
the former employee. At the time, Rearden sent a letter stating
that it owned the technology and Disney dropped out of the bidding
as a result, according to testimony from the former employee. In
addition, the lawsuit alleges, Disney previously contracted
directly with Rearden to use MOVA on four films released between
2010 and 2012.
"Disney never bothered to contact its longtime MOVA Contour
service provider Rearden LLC to ask any questions or to verify
Disney's authorization to use the MOVA Contour system, methods,
trade secrets or trademarks that Disney knew Rearden owned," the
lawsuit states.
In addition to the injunctions, Rearden is seeking orders to
destroy all infringing copies of "Guardians of the Galaxy,"
"Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Beauty and the Beast" and is asking
for financial damages.
"Beauty and the Beast" has grossed $1.26 billion globally, and
"Guardians" grossed $773 million.
Write to Ben Fritz at ben.fritz@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 17, 2017 15:16 ET (19:16 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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