On December 15, 2025, 3-D animator and independent creator Eric Ryder filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against James Cameron, his production company Lightstorm Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, and Disney subsidiaries.

The complaint alleges that Avatar: The Way of Water copied elements from Ryder’s science fiction story KRZ, claiming that the Avatar series, like KRZ, includes “anthropomorphic beings, a vast oceanic setting, and a sinister, Earth-based corporation engaging in environmentally harmful mining operations on the moon of a gas giant planet called Europa.”

Ryder is seeking at least $500 million in damages and has asked the court to block the release of the latest installment, Avatar: Fire and Ash..

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Reference Materials:

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/disney-james-cameron-sued-copyright-infringement-over-avatar-2025-12-16/