(2020) Tags: Pixar
Sweet Cicely Daniher v. Rae
According to the complaint: Plaintiff owns a tremendously cool, dark blue and/or purple 1972 Chevrolet G10 van, with red shag carpeting, red velour walls and seating, and a white shag carpet roof. Plaintiff also designed a unicorn mural for the side of her van, born of her own creation and design, and which she thereafter christened as the “Vanicorn.”
Defendant Pixar provided a contract to the Plaintiff for renting the Vanicorn for an “event” consisting of “a one day music festival/activity day for Pixar employees and families”, which was signed by the Plaintiff and Defendant Pixar via James M. Kennedy, Senior Vice President of Business Strategy and Chief Legal Counsel to Defendant Pixar. The contract stated that the Vanicorn “would just be a show piece and not used in any way other than a visual prop.”
Plaintiff then discovered that a character in the Pixar film Onward named Guinevere was a tremendously cool, dark blue and/or purple 1972 Chevrolet G10 van with a red interior, and a big mural of a unicorn on its side, and that is clearly a direct copy and/or visual duplication and/or doppelgänger of the Plaintiff’s Vanicorn, down to the very same year, make and model.
Plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment, declaring the Defendants’ copyright(s) as they apply to the Defendants’ advertisements, promotion and/or merchandising materials and/or products, and/or the motion picture entitled Onward to be invalid as said copyright(s) are derivative of Plaintiff’s copyrighted Vanicorn, and Plaintiff is entitled to protection of the copyright. Plaintiff also seeks all attorney’s fees and costs incurred in seeking this declaratory action; for statutory damages in excess of $25,000 for each violation, plus reasonable attorney’s fees, costs, and such other relief as the Court deems appropriate.
Judgment: Plaintiff Sweet Cicely Daniher, by and through her undersigned counsel, hereby dismisses the above captioned matter as to all Defendants without prejudice and without costs or fees to any party.