Disney moves to dismiss lawsuit alleging "Frozen" is "My Life Story" - Updated with Dismissal Order

[jcb]

You knew it was coming. The only question was how hard Disney was going to come out swinging. Here is the first substantive paragraph from Disney's brief:

Plaintiff’s contention that Yearnings of the Heart and Frozen are substantially similar is absurd. To contrive a valid claim, Plaintiff in some instances resorts to outright fabrication. For instance, Plaintiff claims that both works have “two male characters” named “Hans and Cristoff who have romantic interests” in a female character. Compl., Ex. A, ¶ 8. In fact there are no characters named “Hans” or “Cristoff” in Yearnings of the Heart. Even when she describes the works accurately, Plaintiff’s examples of alleged “Plagiarism”—e.g., that the stories are set in “Villages,” or include “Two Sisters” who share “Intense Sisterly Love,” or that one “Sister Falls in Love”—allege only similarities between the most generic elements of the two plots. Because copyright law “protects only the expression of an idea, but not the idea itself,” these allegations do not come close to pleading substantial similarity as a matter of law. Kay Berry, 421 F.3d at 208 (emphasis added).

I feel for the junior associate (and judicial law clerk) who had (or have) to actually read "Yearnings of the Heart."

 

[Kristina4109]

You could argue that whoever had to read it has suffered enough and no more punitive damages are necessary.

 

[avic77]

I feel for the junior associate (and judicial law clerk) who had (or have) to actually read "Yearnings of the Heart"

 

[jcb]

This one has been dismissed. Click here to read the decision.

 

[jcb]

Here's the essence of the Judge's reasoning.

Plaintiff only alleges that Disney plagiarized broad thematic elements of her memoir. Most of the 18 similarities in her letter to Disney are tenuous at best. The closest similarities are the generic themes of intense sisterly love and the concealment of a personal characteristic of which the protagonist is ashamed. There are also some minor thematic similarities involving the moon’s connection to romance, mountainous settings, and betrayal by a lover.

Copyright law protects expression, not ideas. Kay Berry, Inc. v. Taylor Gifts, Inc., 421 F.3d 199, 208 (3d Cir. 2005). (“It is a fundamental premise of copyright law that an author can protect only the expression of an idea, but not the idea itself.”). “[G]eneral plot ideas and themes lie in the public domain and are not protected by copyright law.” Winstead v. Jackson, No. CIV.A.10-5783 SRC, 2011 WL 4407450, at *2 (D.N.J. Sept. 20, 2011) aff’d, 509 F. App’x 139 (3d Cir. 2013).

The themes that both appear in Frozen and Yearnings of the Heart are expressed in vastly different ways. The setting, plot, and characters have no close similarities. No lay person could find that Disney improperly appropriated from Yearnings of the Heart because copyright law does not protect the generic, thematic elements of Tanikumi’s work.
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This wasn't much of a surprise. The plaintiff failed to file any response to Disney's motion to dismiss.

 

[GAN]

Frozen is going to be my life story tomorrow morning when I get in the car to go to work!