A Los Angeles jury ruled in favor of Disney, determining that the company did not unlawfully borrow the idea for Moana from animator Buck Woodall’s story about a young surfer in Hawaii. Woodall alleged that Disney used elements from his screenplay, but the jury sided with Disney, stating that the company never had access to Woodall’s materials. Woodall, who sued in 2020, had missed the three-year statute of limitations for copyright infringement, prompting him to file a new lawsuit when Moana 2 was released. The jurors found that the alleged similarities between both works did not warrant copyright infringement claims. (THR)
