Cameron allegedly traced Kilcher’s lower facial features and directed artists to create physical sculptures and digital models based on her likeness for the 2009 blockbuster film.
Curious to see how this turns out. I’m not sure I agree that using an old picture as a springboard for character design is “stealing” someone’s likeness.
Not like it’s a carbon copy of the actor. We’re several films into this franchise and the lawsuit only came about after Cameron admitted to it in a recent interview.
Yeah, while it’s a little creepy/weird how it played out (if you read the full story), I’m pretty sure every artist has used real people as muses.
If we’re going to let AI run amok recreating people, this seems kinda like a moot issue.
Wouldn’t be surprised if someone is pulling strings to push this case specifically to force a court to decide how different a “likeness” needs to be so that all the AI production companies have a line in the sand they can cuddle up close to and still feel like they get to keep all their profits out of the hands of greedy actors and safely in the hands of hard-working producers and CEOs… Whether that is paying her to file the suit, or paying Cameron to have said it in an interview to give reason, or hell, both.
I’m guessing she’s either:
a) hoping Cameron and his lawyers go for a quick settlement because they figure it would be cheaper than going to court. Or…
b) Stirring up shit to get her name in the media to bolster a career that has so far been largely B-level supporting roles and guest-spots.
Another article on the same topic goes into more detail and is actually pretty damning to James Cameron. He directly admitted to using her likeness, multiple times.
Post: https://lemmy.radio/post/13196328
Article: https://variety.com/2026/film/news/james-cameron-sued-avatar-qorianka-kilcher-1236740068/
It honestly seems like someone who was taken advantage of and is trying to get what she is entitled to.
Entitled to what exactly? Her chin shape?
Whether he admitted it or not, unless she’s gone through the process of actually trademarking her chin shape (which I doubt) it’s not going to be nearly a unique enough feature to waste the courts time with.
The only question the courts have to ask is if there is a reasonable chance that a “viewer” could recognize that as her chin when watching the movie and did it do anything to her reputation as a result. The answer of course is no. No one would have EVER known it as her if Cameron hadn’t mentioned it in passing.
Is there a law that establishes the definition of likeness and is it entitled to any rights?
Where is the limit that separates something similar to something else entitled to anything protected by the law?
Where is the line drawn ?
I’m sure there’s something, but personally I can’t imagine a law specifying geometry & texture similarity percentiles and a reproducible analysis procedure.
That’s just dumb. The end design looks nothing like her, not even just the mouth or chin…
