A federal judge has dismissed a case against Disney involving copyright infringement claims from the VFX company Rearden, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
- The judge found that Rearden could not substantiate allegations that its VFX technology was used in the creation of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
- The court also deferred ruling on whether Disney infringed on the Rearden’s patents.
- The case involves DD3, the company Disney has teamed up with on multiple movies, potentially not owning the tech, MOVA Contour Reality Capture, that played a substantial role in the production of those films.
- MOVA Contour Reality Capture, introduced in 2006, was designed from the ground up to capture deformable surfaces (like faces, hands and cloth), enabling it to pick up the detailed performance of the human body with unprecedented realism.
- Disney is still facing claims of vicarious and contributory copyright infringement, as well as patent infringement, for the alleged use of the tech in the aforementioned Avengers films.
- Rearden is seeking significant damages, with Disney potentially having to forfeit profits from the two films, which have collectively grossed more than $6 billion.
- Last year, a jury ruled that Walt Disney Studios failed to properly license the same technology owned by Rearden, using it without permission in the 2017 film Beauty and the Beast, awarding the visual effects firm $600,000.