James Cameron Sued For $2.5 Billion, Another Avatar Copyright Lawsuit Emerges

With James Cameron’s Avatar banking more than $2.78 billion worldwide we knew it was only a matter of time before writers began claiming he stole the idea and now a second lawsuit has been filed against the director and his production partners.

The newest lawsuit comes to us courtesy of Bryant Moore, a science fiction writer who says his screenplays for Aquatica and Descendants: The Pollination were used to create the world of Avatar and it’s major themes.

In the lawsuit, filed quite some time after the movie was released in theaters and on Blu-ray and DVD, the writer says similarities exist between the bioluminescent flora/plant life on the planet of Avatar along with a likeness to the following aspects of his screenplay:

Unbreathable atmospheres, matriarch support of hero vs. heroine, spiritual connections to environment and reincarnation, appearance of mist in scene, sunlight to moonlight, crackling from gargantuan foliage, blue skin/green skin and battle scene on limbs/branches.

Not only is he going after James Cameron he’s also filed suit against 20th Century Fox. Moore is asking for more than $1.5 billion in actual damages and $1 billion in punitive damages.

It should be noted that every single one of his claims have long been used as generally accepted possibilities in science fiction books, movies and even comics. To claim that he created the “matriarch support of hero vs. heroine” for example is ridiculous and we’ve seen plenty of movies and read plenty of books with “unbreathable atmospheres” (hardly a new concept outside of fiction storytelling).

When all is said and done this case will end up where the one before it did, nowhere.