PeeplMoovr
Active Member
He claims he published the movie in 1995. There must be a record of which movies were published during what times. Assuming he did publish it in 1995, that's the proof. Otherwise, he's just a big liarhead.
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Suit: Disney's "Pirates" Movie Pirated
- Thread starter TTATraveler
- Start date
bsandersjr
Active Member
That guy is full of s**t!!
Someone tell him that if he needs money that bad, to go get a job like the rest of us!
Someone tell him that if he needs money that bad, to go get a job like the rest of us!
DisneySaint
Well-Known Member
Totally a cry for attention.
Tom
Beta Return
This is obviously a frail attempt at a publicity stunt. He'll waste taxpayer dollars to "sue" Disney - all while getting all kinds of news coverage, getting his name and his half-a$$ed movies out and known.
I wish "W" could get his Tort Reform done in the next 4 years - so that idiots like this kid, and fat McDonalds kids, and McDonalds coffee lady would have to pay ALL court fees when they lose - rather than us footing the bill. Of course we'd have to start getting juries that weren't just Cletis and Cecil from the trailer park who had no real jobs. We need some intelligent and logical thinking juries, instead of these "feel sorry for everyone" juries - and maybe some good judges too. Oh well, one can dream.
I wish "W" could get his Tort Reform done in the next 4 years - so that idiots like this kid, and fat McDonalds kids, and McDonalds coffee lady would have to pay ALL court fees when they lose - rather than us footing the bill. Of course we'd have to start getting juries that weren't just Cletis and Cecil from the trailer park who had no real jobs. We need some intelligent and logical thinking juries, instead of these "feel sorry for everyone" juries - and maybe some good judges too. Oh well, one can dream.
ClemsonTigger
Naturally Grumpy
Lets see here....
Story about Pirates - done before
cursed treasure - done before
hidden identities - done before
good bad guys - done before
good girl falls for rogue - done before
ghosts - done before
moonlight causing transformations - done before
hero trapped in sinking ship - done before
silverware projectiles - done before
....well, that does it, I guess Disney did "pirate" this pirate movie. I'm sure this guy is the origin of all those conventions!
:zipit:
Story about Pirates - done before
cursed treasure - done before
hidden identities - done before
good bad guys - done before
good girl falls for rogue - done before
ghosts - done before
moonlight causing transformations - done before
hero trapped in sinking ship - done before
silverware projectiles - done before
....well, that does it, I guess Disney did "pirate" this pirate movie. I'm sure this guy is the origin of all those conventions!
:zipit:
askmike1
Member
Oh my gosh, someone else made a story about pirates and treasure? Call the cops. I mean how many people could have possibly have made stories about pirates and treasure? This definately ranks up there with the McDonalds and Epcot lawsuits as dumbest law suit around.
I mean come on. Pretty soon they'll be suing Disney for Nemo because someone else made an underwater story (oh wait, someone has).
I think there should be a new law that if someone sues Disney with a dumb lawsuit, they should be bolted in Small World for all eternity.
-Michael
http://mfw.frandt.com --the new MFW
COE WHITE: "The Faucet's Rigged!"
I mean come on. Pretty soon they'll be suing Disney for Nemo because someone else made an underwater story (oh wait, someone has).
I think there should be a new law that if someone sues Disney with a dumb lawsuit, they should be bolted in Small World for all eternity.
-Michael
http://mfw.frandt.com --the new MFW
COE WHITE: "The Faucet's Rigged!"
ChefTigger
Member
edwardtc said:
Well it work like a charm in Canada. No one suing for their own mistake or the things they wish they tought of.
I wonder if someone is gonna say that they got their idea stolen for the Haunted Mansion movie. Oh no wait i'm sure no one really wants to do that!!!
longfamily
New Member
I believe we should all form a class action suit against this guy for causing us all mental distress. I mean, when I heard that Disney stole this guys idea, I couldn't sleep for days, I missed work and school because I couldn't sleep. I spent all of my waking hours reading this thread over and over screaming "say it isn't so!"
You too? Well, he better get an attorney now:lol:
Actually, he has to either have a publishing date or a copywrite date which would include a "poor man's" copywrite that is still sealed to have a valid case.
You too? Well, he better get an attorney now:lol:
Actually, he has to either have a publishing date or a copywrite date which would include a "poor man's" copywrite that is still sealed to have a valid case.
DisneyFreak529
New Member
When I was in grade school I wrote a short store about a women who falls in love with a pirate. Ok Disney can I have my 10% now!!
kidding
kidding
PeeplMoovr
Active Member
edwardtc said:
If you mean "logical and intelligent" jurors like yourself, I think I'll take my chances with what we've got out there now.
I'm quite dismayed by the comments on this board. You're extremely naive if you don't think that creative ideas are stolen.
I attended a writing class in Orlando a couple years ago by a novelist and Hollywood script writer. He said that ideas are stolen all the time. It's endemic. He said that Hollywood doesn't care about stealing ideas from people in the system because they won't rock the boat - most of these things are settled internally. The trouble arises when people come from outside the system and don't know the rules.
How would you like it if you created something - then sat there in a movie theatre and saw it scroll before you on a movie screen? I'm surprised you're so pro corporation and anti little guy. Disney already stole the Lion King plot without batting an eyelash. Then there's the Finding Nemo lawsuit, which appears to have merit.
The ideas in this guy's movie (allegedly) are not ideas found in the ride. Kevin Yee's Mice Age column has a couple pictures and descriptions that are too exact to be thought up by two people. For you posters making fun of pirate or underwater ideas, you don't understand the nature of these ideas. Sure we've seen pirate movies before, but have you ever seen one with this progression of plot points? Have you ever seen an movie set underwater with a clown fish who gets lost? These are the elements that make stories stories. Saying "I have an idea for a movie set in space" is nothing in itself. So to say that because there have been pirate and underwater movies before that any specific ideas can't be copyrighted is just plain ridiculous.
As a writer, you're told to ingest everything around you, everything you see and read. Ideas don't fall off of trees. They are hard to come by. It's easy to imagine someone having seen this film and storing the ideas away, or to go researching pirate ideas after having been commissioned to write a pirate movie. That's exactly what you would do. I'm not saying it did happen; but from what I know of Hollywood and the struggle to find new and "original" ideas - it wouldn't surprise me. I mean if it's true that this guy's ship is named The Black Pearl...I mean, come on!
I attended a writing class in Orlando a couple years ago by a novelist and Hollywood script writer. He said that ideas are stolen all the time. It's endemic. He said that Hollywood doesn't care about stealing ideas from people in the system because they won't rock the boat - most of these things are settled internally. The trouble arises when people come from outside the system and don't know the rules.
How would you like it if you created something - then sat there in a movie theatre and saw it scroll before you on a movie screen? I'm surprised you're so pro corporation and anti little guy. Disney already stole the Lion King plot without batting an eyelash. Then there's the Finding Nemo lawsuit, which appears to have merit.
The ideas in this guy's movie (allegedly) are not ideas found in the ride. Kevin Yee's Mice Age column has a couple pictures and descriptions that are too exact to be thought up by two people. For you posters making fun of pirate or underwater ideas, you don't understand the nature of these ideas. Sure we've seen pirate movies before, but have you ever seen one with this progression of plot points? Have you ever seen an movie set underwater with a clown fish who gets lost? These are the elements that make stories stories. Saying "I have an idea for a movie set in space" is nothing in itself. So to say that because there have been pirate and underwater movies before that any specific ideas can't be copyrighted is just plain ridiculous.
As a writer, you're told to ingest everything around you, everything you see and read. Ideas don't fall off of trees. They are hard to come by. It's easy to imagine someone having seen this film and storing the ideas away, or to go researching pirate ideas after having been commissioned to write a pirate movie. That's exactly what you would do. I'm not saying it did happen; but from what I know of Hollywood and the struggle to find new and "original" ideas - it wouldn't surprise me. I mean if it's true that this guy's ship is named The Black Pearl...I mean, come on!
PeeplMoovr
Active Member
tomm4004 said:
I tend to agree. I wouldn't judge this guy until I've watched his movie.
I don't think Disney is always without fault. Need proof: Stitch's Great Escape. :lol:
I'm not saying they used some of his ideas. I would agree that it is possible, however.
Bairstow
Well-Known Member
Given Disney's recent creative history (The Lion King is a stolen version of Kimba the White Lion, Atlantis is a stolen version of Nadia, etc.) It wouldn't suprise me at all if either Elliot or Rossino watched Royce's movie at some point during their writing project and were "inspired" by it. Of course, when the studio buys the screenplay they accept responsiblity for plagairism like this, and that's what this looks like, plagiarism pure and simple. Disney's been creatively bankrupt for years, just look at "Hunchback of Notre Dame 2" if you need proof. I hope Royce takes Disney for every penny he can. Maybe that will finally send the message that Disney can't just steal stories from lesser-known writers and expect to get away with it just because of their size and popularity.
Indy95
New Member
This case has no chance of going through.
Obviously people are forgetting their Disney history: Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio (two of the four writers on POTC) came up with the ideas for the "walking dead, buried treasure," etc. when the idea for a POTC movie was FIRST DEVELOPED, right after they finished on Aladdin...which was IN 1992! Initially, Disney rejected their idea and hired two writers before finally giving Ted and Terry the job again. This is confirmed on the Writers Commentary on the POTC DVD.
In short, this case has no merit. In fact, Disney has a better argument that THIS MAN STOLE THEIR IDEAS FROM THEM. After all, these ideas came up in 1992...three years before this guy's pirate movie. And another thing, why would successful professional writers (having written Men In Black, Aladdin, Count of Monte Cristo, Mask of Zorro, Shrek, etc.) use the EXACT NAMES FROM THIS GUY'S MOVIE? Wouldn't it have made more sense to...I don't know...CHANGE the names but keep similar characters?
It seems to me that somehow this guy got a whiff of the original POTC idea, made the movie for himself thinking that Disney would never make that version of POTC, but when they did, he sued. That's what I think happened.
Obviously people are forgetting their Disney history: Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio (two of the four writers on POTC) came up with the ideas for the "walking dead, buried treasure," etc. when the idea for a POTC movie was FIRST DEVELOPED, right after they finished on Aladdin...which was IN 1992! Initially, Disney rejected their idea and hired two writers before finally giving Ted and Terry the job again. This is confirmed on the Writers Commentary on the POTC DVD.
In short, this case has no merit. In fact, Disney has a better argument that THIS MAN STOLE THEIR IDEAS FROM THEM. After all, these ideas came up in 1992...three years before this guy's pirate movie. And another thing, why would successful professional writers (having written Men In Black, Aladdin, Count of Monte Cristo, Mask of Zorro, Shrek, etc.) use the EXACT NAMES FROM THIS GUY'S MOVIE? Wouldn't it have made more sense to...I don't know...CHANGE the names but keep similar characters?
It seems to me that somehow this guy got a whiff of the original POTC idea, made the movie for himself thinking that Disney would never make that version of POTC, but when they did, he sued. That's what I think happened.
Bairstow
Well-Known Member
Yep, I hope this lawsuit hits Disney HARD. They've had it coming for years.
http://www.kimbawlion.com/rant2.htm
http://www.thesecretofbluewater.com/atlantis2-i.htm
http://www.kimbawlion.com/rant2.htm
http://www.thesecretofbluewater.com/atlantis2-i.htm
>It seems to me that somehow this guy got a whiff of the original POTC idea, made the movie for himself thinking that Disney would never make that version of POTC, but when they did, he sued. That's what I think happened.
I'm sorry, but that explanation doesn't hold salt water. To suggest Disney should be suing him!!! Then why didn't they when he brought the movie to them in 1994/5? To say the case has no merit is very premature. The point is that we'll have to wait and see more evidence. Chances are this thing will get settled quietly and we'll never hear about it, like will probably happen with Finding Nemo and The Village.
>(having written Men In Black, Aladdin, Count of Monte Cristo, Mask of Zorro, Shrek, etc.)
Notice that most (perhaps all) of the movies you mention are based on source material; they didn't have to come with original ideas. The "spark" can be the hardest part. As far as being confirmed on the DVD, it would be confirmed if they have documented evidence. Also, there seems to be much more to it then just that (the coins, the nature of Jack, The Black Pearl, etc.)
I'm sorry, but that explanation doesn't hold salt water. To suggest Disney should be suing him!!! Then why didn't they when he brought the movie to them in 1994/5? To say the case has no merit is very premature. The point is that we'll have to wait and see more evidence. Chances are this thing will get settled quietly and we'll never hear about it, like will probably happen with Finding Nemo and The Village.
>(having written Men In Black, Aladdin, Count of Monte Cristo, Mask of Zorro, Shrek, etc.)
Notice that most (perhaps all) of the movies you mention are based on source material; they didn't have to come with original ideas. The "spark" can be the hardest part. As far as being confirmed on the DVD, it would be confirmed if they have documented evidence. Also, there seems to be much more to it then just that (the coins, the nature of Jack, The Black Pearl, etc.)
ClemsonTigger
Naturally Grumpy
I'm not so naive to not know how the entertainment system works, or the scientific world or most business today. I don't however have any indication to feel for Royce. Just as I don't care about the poor starving family in Africa that expects Disney to pay them millions for using The Lion Sleeps Tonight".
When you talk about personal perception of creativity, you need look no further that American Idol. Many there think they can sing, and even spend time trashing the judges for their poor decisions. Too many think they are ready for prime time.
When you talk about personal perception of creativity, you need look no further that American Idol. Many there think they can sing, and even spend time trashing the judges for their poor decisions. Too many think they are ready for prime time.
Testtrack321
Well-Known Member
I agree here guys, this isn't some cheap publicity stunt or another bad lawsuit, this guy had a film that very closely resembled PotC 10 years before. Names, scenes, and other things were stolen from it, hands down. The only way for this to be dropped is if there was no proof it came out before PotC work had started.
As taken from Kevin Yee
As taken from Kevin Yee
Before We Begin...
...I wanted to mention a lawsuit filed in Florida this week. Plaintiff Royce Mathew claims that he created a storyline, later used on a CD-ROM that was sold in 1995, which has many ideas used in Disney’s 2003 blockbuster movie, Pirates of the Caribbean. Here are some quotes from his lawsuit, specifically the question-and-answer section:
Disney’s 2003 supernatural pirate movie contains the same unique story as found in Royce Mathew’s original creative materials. Both feature a key unique story of pirates who don’t want anything to with the treasure/plunder, attempting to return a gold medallion with mystic properties on a gold chain to a cave by the ocean, in hopes of breaking a curse that affects them. Not being able to enjoy the pleasures of life, like crying, enjoyment of eating and ending their everlasting thirst. The effects of the curse the pirates endure is revealed by moonlight. Both have a pirate ship named "The Black Pearl." None of these unique story components are found in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride attraction. [...]
Some examples [...] included Royce Mathew developing characters, one who is a blacksmith, one who is an eccentric pirate and incorporating the names J. Everett Malord William Turner. The blacksmith is poor, independent and an expert swordsman. The eccentric pirate is introduced being alone, and is wearing eyeliner. Royce Mathew also designed a protagonist character named Elizabeth S., who is the daughter of a governor, who is kidnapped from her mansion and is taken aboard a pirate ship named "the Black Pearl" to confront an evil pirate captain nicknamed Blackheart.
Also in Royce Mathew’s creative materials there is an apple in a scene between the protagonist and the evil pirate captain as well as having a discussion about a single gold medallion on a gold chain. There is the threat of the protagonist to drop the gold medallion on the gold chain at the ocean or not drop it at the ocean. Holding it out, the Protagonist clutches the gold chain in their fist, with the gold medallion dangling. The gold medallion on the gold chain is not dropped and the story continues. The gold medallion has a mystic property of being able to summon/call especially near the ocean.