Major names in the entertainment industry get sued a lot for allegedly stealing visuals but considering this case involves the highest-grossing film of all time, it will get a lot of headlines. James Cameron is being sued by a British artist named Roger Dean for $50 million, claiming the big time director stole his ideas for images that appear in his blockbuster hit Avatar.
Legal documents state that Dean claims Cameron "studied and referenced his art in preparation for the film." Dean also says, "The similarities of each such work are substantial, continuing, and direct so as to rule out any accidental copying or similarity in scenes common to the genre." The artist specifically points out his paintings depicting floating islands and arches in the air, created over 40 years of his life, were used by the director. Above is a still from the movie and below is one of those works. We're not going to say anything but um, yeah.
Roger Dean, "Floating Islands," 2004 / © Roger Dean
However this isn't the first time Cameron has been sued over the film. Cameron has won two separate claims that he used content from others for the film's script. In March, a screenwriter named Bryant Moore claimed some of the parts included in scripts he sent to Cameron's company had been used in the movie.
RELATED: James Cameron Discusses His Progress On Avatar 2
[via BBC]
