Toon Zone Talkback - Man Sues Dreamworks Over "Madagascar"

arsh s

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This is a talkback thread for this article. Feel free to read it before discussing it.

Everybody back?

Okay, good.

You know, I always find it funny that people are always suing people over successful projects and never over craptacular bombs. It's almost like "Hey, this is huge and making a lot of money, and I want a piece of the action."

Some cases are legitimate. Others fall into the realm of "wow, who are you kidding?" That one case with the guy who had a drawing of Mickey Mouse claiming that he owned the character and sued Disney for billions, when it's obvious Mickey Mouse was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit with mouse ears instead of bunny ears. The guys who sued NBC over Heroes when that show is simply a patasche of Misfits of Science and The Tomorrow People, something the creator have stated publicly. The guy who could have sued Cartoon Network Europe for ripping off his action network idea though in actuality he'd been giving his two cents to them about what kind of action network they should do and going behind his back, altering the plan, and still naming the venture after his site.

At least that guy could get some satisfaction over the fact the network completely bombed without more of his imput.

This Madagascar lawsuit seems weirdly timed, considering a sequel and a spinoff series are in the works. Wouldn't said lawsuit have been appropriate before the first one was even released and made all that money? And if that's the case, where's the lawsuit against The Wild. It pretty much echos the whole escape from the zoo premise Madagascar did. Oh, that didn't make money. It was a bomb. Go for the one with the bucks.

Your thoughts?
 
That's sort of the point. If it bombs, then it's no big deal. But if people are making money off your idea, then you would be mad. If they lose money, then that's justice enough.
 
In semi-related lawsuit news, the creator of "Bob Spongee, the Unemployed Sponge" lost his suit against Nickelodeon.

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Source: The Big Cartoon Database
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Link in first post has been fixed.

Those who discussed the topic before it got fixed please lower your heads in shame for not clicking on the link. :D
 
Well, from what I saw from that link in a link in a link, it appears that his man's script only has the characters in Manhattan. It appears, while the characters could be the very same ones, it may only extend to zaniness around New York City, not somehow leading to the characters going to the island of Madagascar. :shrug: Despite that difference, this man's script may have been the basis for the film...
 
Well, I'm not really going to comment on this, but suffice to say, if a studio receives a script and decide not to use it directly, they will usually make an offer to the author in order to avoid a situation such as this. I know the Simpsons did it way back in the day. I think it is quite unlikely that they would take the risk of trying to get away with blatantly ripping someone off. Time will tell however.

On the SpongeBob thing, I'm glad it's over. Seriously that guy didn't really have a leg to stand on. I guess the judge was right in not awarding costs to Viacom, but still, he's going to appeal? He might be biting off more than he can chew if he tries a stunt like that.
 
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