An individual artist from Randolph, MA has sued DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (Glendale, CA) for copyright infringement claiming that DreamWorks improperly co-opted his drawings and characters to create the movie Kung Fu Panda.
Access to the artist’s work is alleged in several ways, including public displays in and around the Boston area, submissions of the artist’s material to Disney during the period that Jeffrey Katzenberg (the “K” of “SKG”) was there, and submission to DreamWorks which were formally rejected.
At times the complaint borders on the hokey (for example, explaining that the individual artist hoped his “characters would one day reach children everywhere, empowering them to overcome struggles due to diversity”) but it does provide examples of allegedly copied material including a panda skilled in kung fu, a group of similarly skilled animals, and other content. A sample comparison illustration:
I’m not sure how big this dispute was prior to filing, but the signature block of the complaint lists attorneys from four different offices of Fish & Richardson as well as an entertainment lawyer in Duane Morris’ Boston office.
Gordon v. Dreamworks Animation SKG, Inc., 11-10255-JLT (D. Mass. Feb. 16, 2011)
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