Walt Disney Defeats ‘Muppet Babies’ Writer’s Copyright Suit

Walt Disney Co. shook off claims by the author of most of the scripts for the 1980s “Muppet Babies” animated TV series that it incorporated his ideas into its 2018 reboot without permission, after the Central District of California found he has no ownership interest in the work.

Writer Jeffrey Scott lacks standing to pursue an infringement claim because he failed to disclose his copyright in the “production bible"—the blueprint for the show—as an asset in his 2003 bankruptcy petition, the court said.

A failure to schedule a copyright as an asset means the copyright continues to belong to the ...