US court terminates James Cameron copyright dispute
Director James Cameron has survived a third attempt by an artist to claim damages for the alleged misuse of literary material and musical tracks in the “Terminator” film franchise.
On Friday, September 11, the US District Court for the Northern District of California granted Cameron’s motion to dismiss the case, asserted by Neil Goldberg.
Goldberg had claimed that the tracks “Long Life Music” and “Music Warrior” had been used without his permission in the fourth instalment of the Terminator film series, “ Terminator: Salvation”, released in 2009.
He also claimed that parts of the script used in the film were unauthorised copies of his plot ideas developed in the 1970s.
The allgeations followed two unsuccessful claims filed by Goldberg against Cameron.
In 2005, Goldberg sued the director for copyright infringement, breach of contract, and unfair competition, as well as filing six other claims centring on the use of material in “The Terminator” and “Terminator 2: Judgement Day”, the first two films in the franchise.
The California district court rejected the claims in 2009.
According to the latest decision Goldberg asserted “substantially similar” claims against Cameron in 2013 but the claims were dismissed in February 2014.
Goldberg filed the third and most recent suit in June 2014. Cameron called for a dismissal of the allegations on the grounds that they were too similar to previously unsuccessful claims.
Judge Ronald Whyte, presiding over the case, said the new allegations “do not add anything to the underlying claims of copyright infringement or breach of implied contract.
"Both of those claims were asserted in the first action, and were litigated through motions for summary judgment.
“Because the court finds the three required elements of res judicata satisfied ... the defendants’ motions to dismiss Goldberg’s complaints are granted,” he added.
Copyright disputes are not unfamiliar territory for Cameron.
Last year, the director survived a $50 million infringement claim filed by artist Roger Dean.
Dean had alleged that the floating island landscape used in the film “Avatar”had misappropriated his images.
The US District Court for the District of New York dismissed the case. Judge Jesse Furman said Dean did “ not have a monopoly on the idea of floating or airborne land”.
