Screenwriter Sues Disney For Copyright Infringment in Pirates of the Caribbean

Posted on July 17, 2006

We knew it, we just knew it. We had gone an entire week without a major new copyright infringement suit. Not to worry, a big one was just filed by screenwriter Royce Mathew in federal court against Disney, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Jerry Bruckheimer Inc. and others, alleging copyright infringment in the 2003 film, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Matthew alleges that Disney et al. stole his drawings and characters he had created for a different film about supernatural pirates.

Mathew alleged that beginning in the 1980s, he "created and wrote a number of original works including drawings, screenplays, outlines, blueprints, storyboards and other original materials" for what he termed a "Super Natural Pirate Movie." Material filed with the U.S. Copyright Office included drawings depicting a pirate ship named Black Pearl, the suit claimed, adding the material was also pitched in Hollywood.
Disney denied the allegations. "The suit has no merit," Disney studios spokeswoman Heidi Trotta said without elaboration. Bruckheimer's publicist Paul Bloch had no comment, referring calls to Disney. Messages left Friday for Buena Vista Home Entertainment, a unit of Disney, were not immediately returned. The film raked in $305 million domestically at the box office. The sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, earned a record $135.6 million in its opening weekend beginning July 7.
Mathew is seeking unspecified damages, and a permanent injunction against the movie or "other infringing works," according to the lawsuit. Messages left for his attorney, Stephen Thomas, were not immediately returned.

Now that is a suprise. In most of these cases the writer hasn't bothered to file his work with the U.S. Copyright Office before pitching it to Hollywood. This should be an interesting case.