A jury has ruled that Walt Disney Studios infringed on the intellectual property rights of visual effects firm Rearden when it utilized the company’s MOVA Contour software without permission in the 2017 film “Beauty and the Beast.”
The decision states that Disney failed to properly license the MOVA Contour technology, owned by Rearden, despite knowing that its visual effects partner, DD3, may not have had rights to use or sublicense the software. Disney continued to benefit from using the proprietary MOVA system in “Beauty and the Beast” regardless, the jury ruled.
The jury awarded Rearden about $600,000, including $350,000 meant to represent Disney’s profits attributed to using the copyrighted MOVA technology. While Rearden had asked for over $100 million in damages related to the film’s success, the jury’s award indicates they did not see a strong connection between MOVA Contour and the film’s box office performance.
Other films like “Guardians of the Galaxy” and the “Avengers” franchise had also been under dispute, but the sole claim in this case focused on “Beauty and the Beast” and Disney’s liability for knowingly sublicensing software it did not own rights to.
A prior federal court decision already found that DD3’s licensure and ownership transfer of MOVA Contour was fraudulent. While Disney was not party to that ruling, a subsequent case may still be brought over the two “Avengers” films released following that initial judgment.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
