Overview
- Kilcher filed the federal complaint Tuesday in the Central District of California, naming James Cameron, The Walt Disney Company, Lightstorm Entertainment and several major visual‑effects vendors.
- She alleges Cameron used a 2005 Los Angeles Times photo of her at age 14, directing designers to base Neytiri’s face on her lips, chin and jawline without consent.
- The filing says her features were turned into concept sketches, sculpted maquettes and laser‑scanned digital models shared across VFX pipelines, later appearing in films, posters and merchandise.
- As evidence, the complaint cites a resurfaced interview in which Cameron points to her “lower face” as the source and a signed Neytiri sketch he gave her in 2010 noting she was an “early inspiration.”
- The suit seeks damages, profit disgorgement, an injunction and a public correction, and it also invokes California’s new deepfake law because the character created from a minor’s image appears in intimate scenes; representatives for Cameron and Disney have not responded.