Lawsuit Over Disney Pixar ‘Cars’ Franchise Dismissed

The lawsuit against Disney Pixar regarding Cars that we previously told you about has been dismissed by U.S. District Court judge in California.

Jake Mandeville-Anthony, a British screenwriter, had filed the lawsuit last spring, alleging that Pixar had infringed on his copyright by stealing the idea for the Cars franchise from him.  In the lawsuit, Mandeville-Anthony stated that he sent copies of his work, created twenty years ago, to Disney, and he met with a Lucasfilm executive who would later become a manager with Pixar. 

However, after reviewing the case’s facts, Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank determined that there was no copyright infringement, and dismissed the suit with prejudice – a distinction which bars Mr. Mandeville-Anthony from ever having the case go to a jury trial, or from its being refiled.  “Defendants have sufficiently shown that the Parties’ respective works are not substantially similar in their protectable elements as a matter of law,” wrote the judge in her ruling.

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