Disney Wins ‘Moana' Copyright Trial, But $10B Sequel Suit Still Riding The Legal Waves, For Now
Buck Woodall's five-year battle with Disney over who really created Moana looks to have come to an end, with a Los Angeles jury on Monday finding for the House of Mouse in the animated franchise dispute, at least for now.
While the panel of six women and two men determined in just under three hours that Disney and primary Moana creators John Musker and Ron Clements never saw or even knew about Woodall's Bucky the Surfer Boy work while working on the 2016 animated hit, Woodall now has a separate copyright infringement action in the courts over blockbuster sequel Moana 2.
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Right now, after a slew of internal communications and more sausage-making was revealed in documents for this trial, Disney is taking the win and leaving it at that.
'We are incredibly proud of the collective work that went into the making of Moana and are pleased that the jury found it had nothing to do with Plaintiff's works,' a spokesperson for the Bob Iger-run media giant told Deadline after the verdict was read out this afternoon in Judge Alka Sagar's courtroom at the Roybal Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Los Angeles.
Lawyers for Woodall were not so upbeat, obviously.
'We are obviously disappointed in the verdict,' attorney Gustavo D. Lage said Monday. 'At the present time, we are weighing our options to determine the best path forward regarding the legal remedies available to our client.'
With the question of whether Musker or Clements or any other principal had ever come in contact with Woodall's Bucky materials the primary question before the jury, any issue of similarity between the Hawaii setting and Polynesian demigods in Bucky and Moana was moot. 'They had no idea about Bucky,' Disney outside counsel Moez Kaba said of the Little Mermaid and Aladdin filmmakers in his closing argument Monday in the downtown L.A. courthouse. 'They had never seen it, never heard of it.'
Like in the first case, which was filed in 2020 and still may be appealed, I'm told, Woodall claims in the newer case that a distant relative helped him out. To that, beginning in 2004 Woodall says he handed Jenny Marchick his copyright-protected Bucky the Surfer Boy trailer storyboards, 'intellectual property and trade secrets' (including a 2011 finished script).
Marchich was then Mandeville Films' director of development and working out of the Mandeville offices on the Disney lot.
As was made clear in Disney documents unearthed in discovery and in the trial, work began on the Herman Melville-inspired Moana in 2011, a point Woodall's lawyers jumped on. Unburdened now of the time limitations placed on his initial Moana suit of 2020, the January-filed Moana 2 suit is seeking $10 billion from Disney, or around 2.5% of the gross from the 2024 sensation, which grossed more than $1 billion at the global box office.
In the end, because of statutes, Woodall wouldn't have been able to see any cash from the first Moana, but he may have a Hail Mary at some dough from the second toon, which returned Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson to their starring roles.
'This case arises from a two-decade-long scheme masterminded by Marchick but ultimately joined in with malice and for profit by all Defendants pursuant to the aforementioned conspiracy described in this Complaint,' reads the complaint filed January 10, 2025 and seeking injunction relief and big bucks. 'The scheme started out as a plan by Marchick to support her thirst to gain success in her desired career in the movie industry, at all costs, by working with the Defendants to steal all the components of Plaintiffs Copyrighted Materials, as that term is defined in this Complaint.'
'This theft resulted in what would eventually become one of the most unique and profitable animated film franchises in motion picture history revolving around Plaintiffs Copyrighted Materials and directly resulting in the Disney franchise known as Moana,' the lawsuit adds.
For the record, Marchick was the sister-in-law of Woodall's brother. Professionally, after time at Fox and Sony, Marchick now holds the position of head of development for features at NBCUniversal-owned DreamWorks Animation.
In Marchick's long-ish stint testifying in the nearly two-long case, the exec stated that she had no memory of ever showing any of Woodall's Bucky the Surfer Boy material to anyone at Disney over the years even as her relative by marriage sent her material and updates. Correspondence brought up at trial also showed Marchick telling Woodall via email that she didn't think she could help him. Marchick did eventually secure Woodall a job interview with a Disney Channel staffer for an animating gig, but that didn't seem to result in much.
No trial date has been set for the Moana 2 copyright infringement case, However, watch that docket, because you can be sure Disney will be asking Judge Consuelo B. Marshall to toss out the whole thing sooner rather than later based on today's outcome.
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On May 18, Lively's team filed a motion in New York's Southern District Court that alleged Baldoni's lawyer made the claim that she extorted Swift as a way "to seed harassing media narratives" against the actress. 'These public attacks, combined with the Rule 11 Plaintiffs filing numerous claims against Ms. Lively without any basis in law or fact, is willfully improper and warrants sanctions,' the legal document read, per the Wrap. Lively's team also filed a second motion to compel Wayfarer Studios to hand over documents and recordings from what they call a "disingenuous charade" of an investigation into her sexual harassment on the It Ends With Us set. The filing accuses Wayfarer of failing to properly investigate her allegations, which include Baldoni allegedly discussing his sex life and staging improvised intimacy scenes without her consent. Her team argues that if a real investigation had taken place in 2023, it would have validated her claims — and that Lively would have been "spared the retaliatory smear campaign" she alleges Baldoni incited in its wake. However, on May 22, the subpoena against Swift was dropped. A spokesperson for Lively confirmed that Baldoni's legal team has withdrawn subpoenas issued to Swift and her legal counsel — a move the spokesperson says they are pleased with. "We supported the efforts of Taylor's team to quash these inappropriate subpoenas directed to her counsel, and we will continue to stand up for any third party who is unjustly harassed or threatened in the process," the spokesperson said in a statement obtained by People. The statement also criticized the Baldoni and Wayfarer team's handling of the case, suggesting they had attempted to use Swift's fame for strategic advantage. "The Baldoni and Wayfarer team have tried to put Taylor Swift, a woman who has been an inspiration for tens of millions across the globe, at the center of this case since day one," the spokesperson said. "Exploiting Taylor Swift's celebrity was the original plan in Melissa Nathan's scenario planning document, and it continues to this day. Faced with having to justify themselves in federal court, they folded. At some point they will run out of distractions from the actual claims of sexual harassment and retaliation they are facing." Baldoni also called out Reynolds's Marvel movie for allegedly attempting to damage his reputation — specifically with the character of Nicepool, portrayed by Reynolds but credited under the name 'Gordon Reynolds.' In the film Deadpool & Wolverine, Nicepool is an alternative version of Reynolds's sarcastic superhero Deadpool who sports long hair and a bun similar to a style worn by Baldoni in the past. Nicepool also calls himself a feminist and remarks on Lively's character Ladypool's postpartum body. 'Reynolds portrayed Nicepool as a vicious caricature of a 'woke' feminist before concluding the character's arc with his violent shooting death at the hands of 'Ladypool,' a character voiced by Blake Lively,' the suit states. It calls the character a 'transparent and mocking portrayal of Reynolds' warped perception of Baldoni.' The It Ends With Us credits also thank 'Gordon Reynolds.' Lively and Reynolds kept a relatively low profile in the immediate wake of the lawsuit. However, the two have recently hinted at the drama at public events, one of which includes Lively and Reynolds's February appearance at the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary on Feb. 16 — their first public appearance together since the lawsuit broke. When asked how things were going by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Reynolds jokingly responded with 'Why? What have you heard?' Baldoni's lawyer Freedman addressed the moment on Billy Bush's podcast, calling it 'surprising' that they would joke about such serious matters. At the 2025 Time100 Gala on April 24, where Lively was an honored guest after making its list of most influential people, she spoke about using her voice for good, saying, 'Who and what we stand up for, and what we stay silent about, what we monetize versus what we actually live, matters.' She also hinted at her legal battle, stating, 'I have so much to say about the last two years of my life, but tonight is not the forum.' In a May appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers to promote Another Simple Favor, Lively also spoke about using her voice for change. 'What I can say without getting too much into it is that this year has been full of the highest highs and the lowest lows of my life,' Lively told Meyers. 'And I see so many women around, afraid to speak — especially right now — afraid to share their experiences. And fear is by design. It's what keeps us silent. But I also acknowledge that many people don't have the opportunity to speak. So I do feel fortunate that I've been able to. It's the women who have had the ability to use their voice that's kept me strong and helped me in my belief and my fight for the world to be safer for women and girls.' According to court documents, on June 2, Lively chose to withdraw her emotional distress claims against Baldoni, which came after the director's legal team requested access to Lively's medical records. They argued the records were central to her allegations of emotional distress. Baldoni's team stated that rather than hand over her records, Lively is withdrawing her emotional distress claim, court papers cited by Variety stated. However, Lively wants to withdraw the claims without prejudice, meaning she could refile them later should she change her mind — something that Baldoni's team has pushed back against. Baldoni's team argued that Lively is both refusing to disclose the documents needed to disprove that she suffered emotional distress, and/or that Baldoni and his production company were the cause. However, at the same time, she is maintaining the right to refile the claim "at an unknown time in this or some other court after the discovery window has closed.' As of now, they have reached an impasse. Lively's lawyers refuted that, stating that Baldoni's lawyers are not accurate in Lively refusing to hand over these documents. Instead, they said the team is "intentionally misleading to the Court" and that their "intended audience" for this "false record" was the public, alleging that Baldoni's lawyers are using this as a way to spin negative press about the actress. They stated that they are dropping the emotional distress claim to focus on other charges in court. 'Once again, this is a routine part of the litigation process that is being used as a press stunt. We are doing what trial lawyers do: preparing our case for trial by streamlining and focusing it; they are doing what they do: desperately seeking another tired round of tabloid coverage,' they said, according to TMZ. Lively's team stated that Lively still 'alleged emotional distress, as part of numerous other claims in her lawsuit, such as sexual harassment and retaliation, and massive additional compensatory damages on all of her claims.'
