Studios Take Big Hit on 'Their Piracy'

Last Wednesday, Disney, Fox, and Paramount received a legal blow in a case whereby the three studios were charged with having used stolen graphics effects programs in production in many of their biggest super hero films.

The U.S. Circuit Court rejected the studios' copyright argument when sued by Rearden LLC, a Silicon Valley firm, for the illegal use of its motion-capture technology, know as the MOVA Contour Program. MOVA captures and tracks the 3D shapes of the human face with great precision. Rearden attorneys argued that the software program's output can be owned by the programmers instead of the end user if the program does the 'lion's share' of the process required.  The studios argued that there was substantial creative input by directors and actors to change the program - but the Court wasn't buying into this defense.

MOVA System best for facial recognition

Keep in mind that copyright laws in the U.S. protect original works of authorship while trademarks protect words, phrases, and designs that identify the source of goods and services.   

Judge Tigar ruled that Disney and Fox's use of the MOVA system trademark made in movie credits lead viewers to believe that Rearden endorsed the movie - which it did not!  The Court further stipulated that the MOVA system (used in the making of blockbusters, such as 'Guardians of the Galaxy', 'Deadpool', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Fantastic Four', 'Terminator: Genisys', and many others) without Rearden's permission or endorsement.  This is a big problem for the studios. The defending studios stated that they would be appealing the verdict.

We will see more of this type of  law suit in the future as more and more of movie production uses simulated scenes and digital programming made outside of  Hollywood's control

Jim Lavorato