Judge dismisses suit claiming James Cameron misappropriated likeness of actress for 'Avatar'
An original maquette of the Neytiri character from “Avatar” and actress Q’orianka Kilcher portraying Pocahontas in “The New World.” (Photos from Kilcher’s court filing)
A federal district judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by an actress accusing director James Cameron of misappropriating her likeness for his Avatar film franchise.
Courthouse News Service reported Friday that U.S. District Judge Wesley Hsu of the Central District of California gave actress Q’orianka Kilcher the opportunity to refile her suit accusing Cameron of using her likeness from another movie to create one of the characters in Avatar. Kilcher had filed the suit under the federal Lanham Act claiming that the public had been misled into thinking that she had approved Cameron using her likeness and was affiliated with the movie.
“Cameron’s initial film in the series grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time, yet it was built in material part on the misappropriation of a minor’s biometric facial features as unpaid commercial source material,” she claimed in her complaint.
However, Hsu stated in court that he doubted that the actress would be able to meet the requirements of the Lanham Act even with an amended filing.
“The complaint identifies no explicit statement in the films representing that plaintiff sponsored, endorsed, approved or was affiliated” with Avatar, the judge said in his ruling, according to Courthouse News Service. “Rather, plaintiff alleges that consumers may infer such an association after learning that her likeness allegedly served as the design foundation for Neytiri.”
According to Courthouse News Service, Cameron approached Kilcher shortly after the original film was released in 2010, telling her that, “Your beauty was my early inspiration” for Neytiri. However, Cameron maintained that after actress Zoe Saldaña was cast in the role, the design became based on her. He and his legal team also pointed out that Kilcher waited 16 years to file her suit.
Hsu stated that he would rule on other issues at a later date.
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