For the past year, we have slowly been reporting on the murky details suggesting evidence of collusion within the animation industry. The reports on this case have been confusing, but essentially, Disney, Sony Pictures Imageworks, DreamWorks, Pixar, Lucasfilm Animation, ImageMovers Digital, and Blue Sky, were all accused of participating in a wage-theft conspiracy in order to increase profits while harming the careers of numerous animators.
However, on this past Friday, Lucy Koh, a federal judge, dismissed the lawsuit against the companies.
In California, any federal antitrust law must be filed within four years of the violations. The lawsuit was filed on September 8, 2014, while all evidence against the companies occurred before September 8, 2010.
Judge Koh determined that all evidence presented, including the “secret meetings” the companies held, did not show definitive “misleading conduct” and so dismissed the case.
If the plaintiffs can find evidence that these violations occurred after September 8, 2010, they can still go forward, but they only have 30 days (until May 3) to find such evidence.
You can read through our past articles about this case here:
- (January 13, 2015) Disney, DreamWorks, Sony Dismiss Lawsuit
- (November 24, 2014) Tech Wage-fixing Scandal Crosses into Animation
- (July 10, 2014) Disney and DreamWorks May be Part of Illegal Wage-fixing Cartel
What do you think of this news? Do you think there should be time restrictions on such violations, or do you think that the lack of evidence shows that these animation studios aren’t participating in such acts?
Edited by: Kelly Conley
