Court rejects claim Indiana Jones copied Brisbane author’s book

A Brisbane author has lost an appeal against Disney over claims Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny copied elements of her self-published e-book.

The Queensland Court of Appeal dismissed Daria Gomez Gane’s appeal against an earlier decision to throw out her copyright infringement case against The Walt Disney Company (Australia) Pty Ltd.

Gane claimed the 2023 film reproduced a substantial part of her 2021 e-book The Michelangelo Dilemma: Secrets of Renaissance Time Travelers.

The court ordered her to pay Disney’s standard costs.

Copyright case dismissed

Gane launched legal action against Disney in 2024.

Brisbane District Court Judge Dominique Grigg dismissed the case before trial after finding it had no real prospect of success.

“No one owns the copyright in a basic story idea. The question is whether the themes and plots necessarily follow?” Judge Grigg said.

“Here, the details in the e-book are limited compared to the richness of the film’s content. Simply identifying a male protagonist, a time-travel device, or both is not sufficient to attract copyright protection.

“Even relying on a combination of features or elements does not necessarily elevate what is a commonplace or abstract idea into protectable copyright subject matter.

“There are certainly some similarities in ideas but only at an abstract level.

“The devices are different, the method of time travel is different, the characters are different, and there is no shared dialogue.”

Appeal heard

Gane appealed the decision, arguing Judge Grigg had been “fed incorrect information” and had not properly assessed similarities between the two works.

She raised issues including the number of time travellers in her e-book, locations in the two works and the use of similar words, including “propeller”.

“It is a ridiculous suggestion as a matter of law to say that the use of the word propeller or propel is an original literary word,” Justice Thomas Bradley said.

“It is unusual”, Gane replied.

“I think it is also ridiculous to say it’s unusual, but that is a statement of opinion,” he retorted.

Gane said she was not claiming “originality”, but “similarity” between the two works.

Disney barrister Chris Curtis argued Gane’s appeal focused on “trivial matters” and did not account for significant differences between the e-book and film.

He argued there was no resemblance between the works beyond general plot ideas identified in the original judgment.

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Appeal dismissed

The Court of Appeal upheld the District Court decision.

“The film does not reproduce any particular form of original expression,” Justice Bradley said.

“Most of the appellant’s examples were pedantic criticisms, not legal errors.”

Gane was ordered to pay Disney’s standard costs.

The hearing was Justice Bradley’s final appearance on a judicial panel before retiring to take up the role of Governor of Queensland.

Gane’s 4000-word novella follows a university student and her lover as they uncover time-travelling secrets linked to historical figures including Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny follows Indiana Jones and his goddaughter as they attempt to recover a time-travelling device before it falls into the wrong hands.