On January 10, animator Buck Woodall initiated legal action against Disney, asserting that the films Moana and its sequel Moana 2 were derived from his original screenplay without authorization. This lawsuit follows a prior court ruling in November 2023 that dismissed an earlier claim regarding the first film due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. The current case, however, is centered on the sequel released in November 2024, with Woodall alleging that Jenny Marchick, a former development head at Mandeville Films and now a director at DreamWorks Animation, improperly disseminated his copyrighted material to Disney two decades ago. Woodall's connection to Marchick dates back to the period between 2003 and 2008, when he provided her with comprehensive materials related to his project titled Bucky the Wave Warrior, which included a complete script, illustrations, budgets, an animated trailer, and visual references. He contends that these materials were never utilized but were instead shared with Disney by Marchick. Furthermore, Woodall claims he registered these materials with the US Copyright Office in 2004 and updated the registration in 2014. The animator has identified numerous parallels between his original project and Disney's films. In the case of Moana (2016), he notes significant thematic similarities, including the journey of a young girl navigating Polynesian waters to save her homeland, the presence of ancestral spirits as animals, and the use of star navigation alongside symbolic elements such as a necklace and a living island. For Moana 2 (2024), he highlights further resemblances, such as a quest to lift a curse and the portrayal of the Kakamora warrior tribe. Woodall seeks damages amounting to 2.5% of the Moana franchise’s gross revenue, estimated at $10 billion, along with a court order affirming his copyright and preventing future violations. In a separate legal matter, on January 8, the General Court of the European Union dismissed an application for the registration of the EU trademark "€$ We Think for You." The Polish company Cinkciarz.pl sp. z o.o. had sought to register this stylized slogan in 2016, intending it to cover various goods and services, particularly in the financial sector. However, both the EUIPO examiner and the Board of Appeal rejected the application, citing the mark's lack of distinctiveness under Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, arguing that the phrase merely conveyed a promotional message rather than indicating a specific commercial source. Upon appeal, the General Court upheld the EUIPO's decision, emphasizing that the mark was fundamentally promotional and lacked the necessary characteristics for trademark protection. It noted that the relevant public, particularly English-speaking consumers within the EU, would easily grasp the mark's straightforward meaning, which detracted from its potential as a distinctive identifier of the company’s goods and services. Consequently, the court rejected the appeal entirely, affirming that "€$ We Think for You" did not fulfill the requisite standards for trademark distinctiveness.
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