Studios Beware: The Danger of the Beauty and the Beast Copyright Decision

10/10/2025 18 min Temporada 1 Episodio 243
Studios Beware: The Danger of the Beauty and the Beast Copyright Decision

Listen "Studios Beware: The Danger of the Beauty and the Beast Copyright Decision"

Episode Synopsis


Disney faced a copyright lawsuit over the use of MOVA facial-capture software in Beauty and the Beast. A jury found Disney vicariously liable, the district court threw out the verdict, but the Ninth Circuit has now reinstated it. In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Tara Sattler discuss:




● The facts behind Disney’s use of VFX vendor DD3 and the disputed MOVA software


● Why the district court found no “practical ability” for Disney to control its vendor


● How the Ninth Circuit reversed, emphasizing Disney’s contractual rights, on-set presence, and red-flag evidence


● What this means for studios and production companies managing VFX vendors

More episodes of the podcast The Briefing by Weintraub Tobin