# This just in: Screenwriter Gary Goldman accuses Zootopia of "stealing his concept"



## Dolphanatic (Mar 22, 2017)

www.hollywoodreporter.com: Disney Hit With Lawsuit Claiming 'Zootopia' Ripped Off 'Total Recall' Writer

It looks like we have a proposed scandal in our hands. Screenwriter Gary Goldman, highly acclaimed writer of films like Total Recall, has just filed a lawsuit against Disney, claiming his ideas were supposedly stolen from him and integrated into Zootopia. There's even images of concept art that he claims date back to 2009 and earlier, though the lack of any date stamp or actual concrete evidence seems to be lacking, not surprisingly. He went on to claim that a multitude of other Disney and Pixar movies were also guilty of this supposed plagiarization. However, once again, there's no actual evidence to support his claims.

If you ask me, it seems like we are just dealing with another one of _those_ people. You know, the ones who act all entitled and try to sue the makers of a successful movie over "stolen concept art". I see this kind of stuff happening all the time, unfortunately. A movie or TV series becomes a massive success, then suddenly, out of nowhere, some loser whines about his "original concept" supposedly being "stolen" from him and demands a lawsuit. The exact same thing happened to DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda last year, as well as My Little Pony. Even Toy Story has faced accusations like this. It's just an elaborate scam of sorts that keeps popping up whenever a popular series picks up steam and becomes profitable in the eyes of people looking to stuff their pockets. I highly doubt this lawsuit will go through for the same reason the aforementioned accusations against DreamWorks and Hasbro failed last year. It'll just come and go, so I wouldn't worry too much. The more attention we give these kinds of people, the more entitled they'll become.

Honestly, this article on ZNN pretty much sums up how I feel about the whole ordeal and why Gary Goldman has no leg to stand on.


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## PlusThirtyOne (Mar 27, 2017)

The most expensive, "Original character, DO NOT STEAL!", claims ever made are all against the D. To be fair, Disney LOVES to steal ideas, repurpose stories and concepts and abuse copyright laws.


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## Simo (Mar 27, 2017)

Wait, you mean he claims they're against Tenacious D???? 

That's horrible. The D are awesome.


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## nerdbat (Mar 27, 2017)

PlusThirtyOne said:


> The most expensive, "Original character, DO NOT STEAL!", claims ever made are all against the D. To be fair, Disney LOVES to steal ideas, repurpose stories and concepts and abuse copyright laws.


It kind of bites them back in the ass, funnily enough - there are tons of bootleg fairy rale related videogames and cartoons that try to rip off popular Disney properties, and Disney can't do much about it, since it technically falls under the fair use


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## Sagt (Mar 27, 2017)

nerdbat said:


> It kind of bites them back in the ass, funnily enough - there are tons of bootleg fairy rale related videogames and cartoons that try to rip off popular Disney properties, and Disney can't do much about it, since it technically falls under the fair use


IHE made a video on this before.


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## Dolphanatic (May 25, 2017)

nerdbat said:


> It kind of bites them back in the ass, funnily enough - there are tons of bootleg fairy rale related videogames and cartoons that try to rip off popular Disney properties, and Disney can't do much about it, since it technically falls under the fair use



Actually, they *have* taken action in the past. Also, speaking of Zootopia, there was some controversy over a Chinese animated film called "Crazy Toy City", whose poster looked suspiciously similar to one of Zootopia's movie posters.

www.hollywoodreporter.com: Disney Seeks Dismissal of 'Zootopia' Copyright Lawsuit

Anyway, Disney has officially responded to Gary Goldman's accusation, seeking a dismissal of the case altogether, which is exactly what I was hoping they'd do, since they've clearly got way more evidence on their side and it would be silly to let the accuser take the credit for something he clearly didn't create. Disney said they'd vigorously defend themselves against the accusations in court, so I'm glad to see them sticking to their word. Now we just have to see how the court responds.


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## Dolphanatic (Jun 30, 2017)

It looks like the legal system has finally spoken on the matter. U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald has just ruled that Goldman had not provided enough evidence to justify the case going to court.  "What you're left with is, as you have chosen in prose to allege, is it enough?  That's where I'm having some problems.  Especially since there are suggestions that, the failure to attach itself, suspicious might be too strong a word, but it's something I don't necessarily have to ignore." Judge Fitzgerald did grant Goldman permission to re-file another complaint if he can provide more concrete evidence.  So basically, this matter is most likely over. Thank goodness!

Judge tosses out Zootopia Lawsuit! - Zootopia News Network

P.S. Sorry for the double post.


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