James Cameron, director of the world's two all-time highest grossing films, is being sued $50 million for copying art and ideas used in "Avatar," Deadline.com reported.
British artist Roger Dean filed a legal action in a New York court Friday and accused Cameron of "willful and deliberate copying, dissemination and exploitation" of his original images.
"Avatar," released in 2009, grossed approximately $2.8 billion internationally and won three of the nine Academy Awards it received nominations for.
Dean's past work includes designing album covers for bands such as Yes and Asia, as well as fantasy landscapes and images. Dean claims the foliage and the people of the fictional planet of Pandora are copies of his own work.
"The similarities of each such work are substantial, continuing, and direct so as to rule out any accidental copying or similarity in scenes common to the genre. The infringing portions of Avatar are so similar to Plaintiffs Works that Defendants and others employed in the preparation of the film must have had access to the Plaintiffs Works," Dean's complaint read.
Dean claimed copyright infringement as well as contributory infringement, breach of implied contact, unfair competition and unjust enrichment. The suit is the fourth the mega-blockbuster and Fox Studios have received.
One suit, for billions of dollars, is set to be heard in front of a jury in the next few months. Bryant Moore has claimed the film was based off of scripts that he submitted to the studios. Cameron and Fox have won the other two cases against them.
Dean is after more than just $50 million; the artist wants an injunction stating the defendants copied his work to be posted online and with future "Avatar" projects and attractions.
The complaint mentioned the fact that two sequels to the 3D sci-fi film are in the works as well as a possible prequel. Dean also mentioned the Walt Disney World "Avatar"-themed attraction.
The complaint named Cameron, 20th Century Fox Film Corp and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Dune Entertainment, Lightstorm Entertainment and Ingenious Film Partners 2 as defendants in the lawsuit.
