(2001) Tags: Pixar
Miller v. Pixar Animation Studios
Madrid v. Chronicle Books
Miller v. Pixar Animation Studios
Plaintiff Stanley G. Miller claims that the lead characters “Mike” and “Sullivan” in the Disney movie “Monsters, Inc.” infringe his copyright in his characters “Wise G’ Eye” and “Fred Flypogger.” See images below:
Judgment: Disney has privately SETTLED the case with Plaintiff.
Madrid v. Chronicle Books
This case arises from Plaintiff’s claim that Defendants misappropriated her work and used it in the development of “Monsters, Inc.”
Plaintiff is a social worker and children’s short story writer. Among the stories she has written is a one-page manuscript entitled “There’s a Boy in My Closet,” (the “poem”) which Plaintiff authored in the fall of 1999. Plaintiff sent her manuscript to Defendant Chronicle on October 27, 1999 to be considered for publication. Plaintiff never received a response from Chronicle, nor did Chronicle return her poem in the self addressed envelope that Plaintiff provided.
Through research, Plaintiff discovered that Chronicle is the publisher of a book, “The Art of Monsters, Inc.,” that collects the concept art of the movie “Monsters, Inc.” to provide a behind-the-scenes look at the creation process.
Plaintiff contends that Chronicle gave Pixar/Disney access to her story idea and Pixar/Disney appropriated it as the basis for the movie Monsters, Inc. Plaintiff states that despite the fact Pixar/Disney has its own publishing wing, Hyperion Books — Pixar/Disney used Chronicle to publish “The Art of Monsters, Inc.,” and by this, Plaintiff intimates that this is Chronicle’s reward for giving Pixar/Disney the idea for Pixar/Disney’s new blockbuster.
Plaintiff maintains that Defendants’ actions constitute copyright infringement. Plaintiff also claims she was denied proper attribution of authorship