James Cameron Sued for $50M by Artist Over ‘Avatar’

James Cameron was sued by a U.K. artist Roger Dean for $50 million, claiming the director copied his ideas for the film “Avatar.”

Dean designed covers for groups including Asia, Yes, and other progressive rock bands, filing his lawsuit in New York last week, according to Deadline.com.

He said that Cameron partook in the “wilful and deliberate copying, dissemination and exploitation.” Dean also claimed the director “studied and referenced his art in preparation for the film,” the BBC reported.

The suit added: “The similarities of each such work are substantial, continuing, and direct so as to rule out any accidental copying or similarity in scenes common to the genre.”

He also said that his paintings that feature arches in the sky and floating islands were also copied by Cameron. Dean also said that the Tree of Life and the Home Tree used in the “Avatar” film were similar to his works.

“The ”Pathways (Yessongs)“ painting is the source for three of the Pandora features. The distant tree city provides the form and the iconic silhouette for the ‘Home Tree’. The foreground double helix ‘pathway’ becomes the double helix pathway with the ‘Home Tree’ and the foreground green ‘Barnacle’ plants become ubiquitous on Pandora,” the court filing said, according to The Register.