After MONTHS of back-and-forth deliberation, including a whole second round of arguments, the matter of Gary Goldman’s lawsuit against Disney over the alleged copyright infringement of Zootopia is OVER!

In his final review of the claims against Disney, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald has officially dismissed Goldman’s copyright infringement claim! To quote the Law360 article on the subject,

“…Goldman’s effort to make the plots of “Looney” and “Zootopia” seem similar were strained. All the purported similarities between the two works were themes, not plot points or sequences of events, that were too general to be protected by copyright law.”

And there you have it! The U.S. District Court of the Central District of California has finally tossed the case. The only way Goldman could possibly hope to appeal this decision in a higher court is to take it to either the Federal Circuit Court or the Supreme Court, both of which would review Judge Fitzgerald’s decision and see that there’s nothing more Goldman can say or do to add to this case, and would therefore not even consider it.

The Civil Minutes of the action taken by Judge Fitzgerald (which you can read here) is full of wonderful little tidbits, which we will share after the break. But for now, we can all rest easy knowing that Zootopia is no longer in any legal danger! Celebrations are in order!

Check after the break for some of my favorite passages from the official Minutes, in which I go completely overboard with reaction gifs. They’re gold, man. (sorry I couldn’t resist one final pun)

Boom