James Cameron has won almost as many Avatar lawsuits now as he has sequels planned for the highest-grossing film of all time. Another plagiarism suit was tossed in court today, this time north of the border in Vancouver.
Emil Malak claimed that Avatar was too similar to a screenplay he wrote in 1998 called Terra Incognita. It was about aliens having to save their planet from humans who wanted their resources, notes The Hollywood Reporter. Malak was actaulyl the first person to file a plagiarims suit against Cameron, filing his back in 2010.
According to Deadline, Malak thought he could get as much as $100 million from Cameron and 20th Century Fox. However, the claim was dismissed on the fist day of court proceedings, after Cameron field for a summary judgement.
“After listening to the evidence, I became convinced that Avatar was independently created and accordingly I dismissed my action,” Malak said, according to a release from Fox sent to THR.
If it sounds like Cameron wins a case like this once every three months, it’s because he practically does. He has won plagiarism lawsuits in February 2013, December 2013 and one in January.
Cameron has three sequels to the 2009 hit film planned.
image courtesy of Amazon