Now as a 3D animator I know all to well how important it is to reference animation and cg models from real life. The problem is that most items not created by imagination, such as a car or a computer or say a lamp are patented and copyrighted. Pixar's mascot Luxo Jr. was modeled after Norwegian company Luxo's real life lamp. Until Pixar attempted to sell their mascot, Luxo Jr., along with their latest movie 'Up', seemingly everything was alright between the lamp company Luxo and Pixar. It is unclear if Pixar had settled with Luxo or not, but the moral of this story is clear. Make sure that if you are attempting to sell something that you referenced from another real life object or person, that they are copyright free or that you have written permissions.
Next article.
In this report we see a current legal problem that Dreamworks is having. A Mr. Terence Dunn claims that he had pitched the idea to Dreamworks and that they turned him down. A few months later, they announce 'Kung Fu Panda', what he says was his pitch months earlier. Now, thanks to Judge O'Donnell's ruling they are currently looking into whether it can be proven that Dreamworks was able to access Terence's work before 'Kung Fu Panda' was created. Since there has been no ruling or evidence yet, it is pretty much impossible for us to know if Dunn's claim is true. An interesting story; one that I think teaches us to not only be careful of who we pitch our ideas to, but also how we pitch them.
Last article.
As our last article will show, people may try to sue you over the smallest detail. In this story we see an apparently "famous" race car driver claiming that the design of the main character in Pixar's movie 'Cars', was based on a car that he owns. The court even went on record saying, "a fictional, talking, driver-less red race car with the number 95 on it cannot be construed as a likeness of a driver of a similarly colored/numbered race car."
That is the end of todays article and I hope that you had gotten something out of these lessons.
Reference:
Verrier, R. 2009. Lighting firm Luxo sues over sale of Luxo Jr. lamp with 'Up' Blu-ray disc. Retrieved February 28th, 2011 from: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/07/business/fi-pixar7
Belloni, M. 2010. Man Who Says DreamWorks Stole 'Kung Fu Panda' Wins Round in Court. Retrieved February 28th, 2011 from: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/thr-esq/man-dreamworks-stole-kung-fu-56811
Masnick, M. 2010. Court Rejects Publicity Rights Claim Over Pixar's Lead Car In Cars. Retrieved February 28th, 2011 from: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101217/04203712317/court-rejects-publicity-rights-claim-over-pixars-lead-car-cars.shtml
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