Disney sued in Detroit federal court over 'Frozen'

Disney's blockbuster hit "Frozen" has run into another legal iceberg — this time in Detroit.

A Kuwaiti author has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Disney in U.S. District Court in Detroit, alleging the company stole her story about a snow princess who can turn people into ice — and used it to make the $1.2-billion blockbuster hit.

Her lawsuit, though, isn't novel.

Last year, a Peruvian author sued Disney for $250 million in New Jersey federal court, alleging the company ripped off her life story and based "Frozen" on it. In February, a federal judge killed the lawsuit. The ruling triggered a snarky response from a Disney representative, who cited the movie's most famous song in an interview with CNN: "This is beyond ridiculous. She needs to let it go."

In 2013, the creator of a short animated film called "The Snowman" sued Disney over its teaser trailer to "Frozen," claiming it contained the same sequence of events as her film. A federal judge let the lawsuit proceed.

Now comes the Detroit suit.

It involves Kuwaiti author Muneefa Abdullah, who alleges "Frozen" stole characters — namely Elsa — themes, plot elements and dialogue from her story, "The Snow Princess," which appeared in the 2007 release of "New Fairy Tales" through Trafford Publishing.

Here, according to the lawsuit, are the similarities between "Frozen" and "The Snow Princess." Both contain:

■ A princess possessing magical ice powers who eventually goes into hiding.

■ A kingdom made of ice and surrounded by mountains.

■ A sibling in search and rescue of the sibling with the magic ice powers.

■ A journey up a mountain with snowy guards protecting an icy castle on the mountaintop.

Chicago intellectual property attorney E. Leonard Rubin, past president of the Midwest Chapter of the Copyright Society of the United States, is skeptical about the lawsuit.

"You can't protect an idea," Rubin said. "If you could protect an idea, all of the movies in the 1960s that had the boy-loses-girl-boy-wins-girl plot would all be infringing."

Rubin also questions one of the lawsuit's requests: The plaintiff wants an injunction to stop the movie from being shown.

"A judge is likely to say, 'Where have you been? The movie has been out for a year and a half, at least," Rubin said. "If you want an injunction for somebody to stop doing something, you can only get it if it harms. If it harms you and you wait and wait and wait, the judge is likely going to say, 'Obviously, this isn't harming you that much.' "

Proving copyright infringement will also be tough, Rubin said, noting ideas and plots are not protected unless one can show that they are "substantially similar" to another work. While he sees "a lot of similarities" between "Frozen" and "The Snow Princess," he said, he has to see more to be convinced of a copyright violation.

"Until then, I don't hold out a lot of hope for this plaintiff," Rubin said.

Abdullah's lawyers, Troy attorneys Steven Richter and Mohamed Saher, were not available for comment.

The plaintiff's lawyers have posted a brief statement about the "Frozen" lawsuit on its website, stating: "It is Advanta Law's policy to keep our attention focused on litigation, and not on the media ... There is no doubt that our client is credible and has a valid claim."

According to Disney, "Frozen" is loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Snow Queen." As of Wednesday, a Disney spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

The company has not yet been served with the lawsuit, which also names the film's producer and screenwriter, Jennifer Lee, as a defendant.

The lawsuit claims that Lee had access to "The Snow Princess" before she began screen writing "Frozen," in part because of her ties to Random House Publishing, which acquired the firm that published New Fairy Tales and "The Snow Princess."

Lee worked at Random House from 1992 through 2001. "The Snow Princess" wasn't published until 2007.

Still, the lawsuit claims: "Lee's history with Random House Publishing, as well as the fact that 'New Fairy Tales' has been available for sale … since 2007, gave Lee reasonable opportunities to observe 'New Fairy Tales' and 'The Snow Princess' before she began screen writing 'Frozen' in 2012."

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com