Epcot lawsuit apparently still alive and kicking

[wdwguide]

There was a note in a local paper today that the WDC's attempt to have the Epcot lawsuit thrown out failed, and the trial is going forward.

Disney are quite the copy cats it seems. There was the whole WWOS issue, the Kimba/Simba thing, Atlantis/Nadia, and now this...

 

[d-r]

oh please - next the family of the guy who first thought of the world's fair can sue the family of this guy - what about Brussel's Bruparck for that matter? I'm sure lots of people have lots of ideas they share with lots of people - protection of intellectual property is a serious issue, but an idea this complex would be multiply influenced in the first place, it isn't like inventing the wheel, it was a process of iterations - there is no proof that this fellows idea was the genesis of the world showcase idea.

 

[wdwguide]

Funny thing is that the guy himself never did anything about it. Now that he's dead, his heir is doing the lawsuit. I doubt he stands a chance.

 

[KNWVIKING]

Last time at AK I was telling DW that AK needs an E ride, something like a coaster, but with a mountain...yeah, a big mountain, and maybe snow and some creatures.

Hey,did ya hear what ME let slip at the last meeting, he must of overheard my conversation. Anybody have the phone number to the law firm of Tony,Cheetum & How ?

 

[Werner Weiss]

Remember when Disney was sued because they built the Wide World of Sports complex at WDW -- which was supposedly "similar" to a plan that some Buffalo, NY, businessmen had pitched to Disney?

http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2002/09/23/daily28.html

Never mind that the old Progress City model -- widely accepted as a model of Walt Disney's vision for EPCOT -- at the Carousel of Progress Disneyland in the 1960s had a sports complex.

Never mind that, by definition, any multi-purpose sports complex is likely to have a field house, a baseball stadium, and various other indoor and outdoor sports facilities -- whether it's designed by Buffalo businessmen or Disney Imagineers.

Never mind that retro architecture is all the rage for sports facilities all over the country, and that Disney is all about themed architecture -- so it's no surprise that a sports complex at WDW would have retro architecture.

And never mind that the business model the Wide World of Sports complex calls for the facilties to host various amateur events and training programs -- what else would the business model for a such a complex be?

Yet, our legal system decided that the Buffalo businessmen had been wronged by Disney.

I don't know all the details, so perhaps there's something that I missed -- but it seems to me that Disney was robbed.

 

[KNWVIKING]

Wasn't the original award contested and overturned ? I thought I read that an undisclosed settlement then was reached but for a far lesser amount. Still means Disney lost though.

 

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by KNWVIKING
Wasn't the original award contested and overturned ? I thought I read that an undisclosed settlement then was reached but for a far greater amount. Still means Disney lost though.

The $240 million jury award to the guys from Buffalo happened back in August 2000.

The September 26, 2002 article link that I posted describes what happened after that.

 

[KNWVIKING]

Yeah,that is the article I had read....and I corrected my earlier post...must of had a brain cramp.

 

[EUROPA]

Originally posted by KNWVIKING
Anybody have the phone number to the law firm of Tony,Cheetum & How ?

I do have the phone number for Duey, Cheetum & How...

 

[seashoreCM]

What is the Epcot lawsuit?

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[Bob O]

I totally agree with Werner!!!
But when a company has money like disney and their are numerous bottom feeding lawyers and stupid jurors a company like disney is always the target for easy money.

 

[wdwguide]

In 1963, an artist submitted a design for a project dubbed "Miniture World" to the Walt Disney Studios but was declined. The Epcot that was ultimately built in 1982 shared with his design the geosphere near the entrance, the hourglass shape, and the lagoon surrounded by country pavilions.
Now the artist's heir is trying to get Disney to pay for using parts of his design without compensation.

Edit: I personally always thought that Epcot was largely inspired by Expo '67, some parts of which looked strikingly like Future World.

http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/expo67/map-docs/images/unitedstates.jpg

 

[Douglas Dubh]

In 1963, an artist submitted a design for EPCOT to the Walt Disney Studios but was declined.

That's not too accurate. The design was for "Minature Worlds" - it would have been a world's fair type park but the "pavillions" would have been miniature scale - I remember visiting a park with that idea in British Columbia back in the 70's.

The park that was ultimately built in 1982 shared with his design the geosphere near the entrance, the hourglass shape, and the lagoon surrounded by country pavilions.

Of course, the 1929 World's Fair had a perisphere, so that's hardly a unique feature.
Here's a link with a picture, and which notes some of the similarities:

http://www.post-gazette.com/magazine/20000702EpcotInfo9.asp

 

[d-r]

Does anyone know when they made Brupark in Brussels?


http://www.bruparck.com/UK/index.asp

 

[HorizonsFan]

It was on Monday 26 October 1987 that the first brick was laid at Bruparck, on Brussels' Heysel plateau, at the foot of the Atomium.

I found this using your link.

 

[d-r]

Thanks!~ I kept looking around at that link but couldn't figure it out - I think the site is just too European for me...anyway...why isn't this a rip-off of the basic idea? Because it is such a broad idea, that's why - the same reason you can't put a trademark on a coffee mug.

 

[HorizonsFan]

I think the site is just too European for me

Belgians...
Aren't they like the French only snootier?