Credit: Inside the MagicThe Walt Disney Company and Marvel Studios are facing a new lawsuit in which they are both accused of stealing original artwork for one of their most critically Disney+ movies.
Disney is no stranger to legal action and, on any given day, is either suing or being sued by parties as varied as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (and his Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board), actors like Gina Carano and Scarlett Johansson, or anyone who uses even a small aspect of non-public domain Mickey Mouse. But it doesn’t help a cash-strapped company to receive a new lawsuit, particularly one that affects one of its more recently beloved Marvel projects.
That would be Werewolf by Night, the Disney+ streaming special promoted as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s big foray into horror. Werewolf by Night starred Gael García Bernal (as the titular lycanthropic character), Laura Donnelly, and Harriet Sansom Harris and began streaming on October 7, 2022. Its black-and-white visuals, eerie score, and dive into the dark supernatural aspects of the MCU were widely praised as a departure from the usual superhero theatrics, enough so that it was re-released (in a colorized version) a year later.
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It currently holds 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and can be fairly called one of Marvel’s more aesthetically successful projects in the last several years, particularly as CGI-heavy movies like Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) have received diminishing returns at the box office and with critics.
Thus, it is not great news that Disney and Marvel have been slapped with a joint lawsuit over a promotional poster for Werewolf by Night, which alleges that the companies committed copyright infringement. Artist Darius Alas has filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York, asking the court to provide him with “redress for the unauthorized and unlawful exploitation of his original art.”
In the lawsuit, Darius Alas provides a side-by-side comparison of a piece of his original art, titled “Born from Pain,” alongside a Werewolf by Night poster. He claims that “elements, composition, colors, arrangement, and overall appearance of the works are substantially similar.” See for yourself:
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Darius Alas claims that he sent Disney and Marvel a cease-and-desist order in 2023, which was ignored by the companies and triggered his suit. He is asking for a jury lawsuit and, among other damages, that he be “awarded all profits of Defendants, and each, plus all losses of Plaintiff, plus any other monetary advantage gained by the Defendants through their infringement, the exact sum to be proven at the time of trial.”
The full lawsuit can be read here:
Inside the Magic reached out to Disney for comment, but has not heard back by the time of publishing.
What do you think of the above artwork? Does it constitute copyright infringement? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!