Suit: Disney stole ‘Hannah Montana’
A Los Angeles comedy writer-producer has sued Walt Disney Co., claiming it stole the idea for its hit show “Hannah Montana” from him.
The lawsuit said that in late 2001, Morris Taylor Sheffield pitched an idea for a show on the Disney Channel about a boy named Roland Dillard who leads a secret life as a pop star named Rock Ryder. Disney passed.
In 2006, the Disney Channel launched “Hannah Montana,” about a teenage girl who leads a secret life as a pop star. It has become the channel’s top-rated series. The lawsuit claims that Disney could owe Sheffield “millions of dollars” in lost profits.
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