Disney settles lawsuits over movie motion-capture technology

June 4 (Reuters) - Disney (DIS.N) has settled allegations that its film studios misused another company's motion-capture technology in "Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Deadpool," "Guardians of the Galaxy" and other movies, according to a filing in California federal court.

Disney and Rearden LLC have resolved pending lawsuits over all of the films at issue except Disney's 2017 remake of "Beauty and the Beast," according to an order published on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Rearden convinced a jury last year that Disney owed nearly $600,000 for using its MOVA Contour software without permission to render the face of the Beast, played by actor Dan Stevens.

Representatives for Disney and Rearden did not immediately respond to requests for comment and more information about the settlement.

Rearden, founded by former Apple scientist Steve Perlman, first sued Disney in 2017. It said that a "rogue" Rearden employee stole the Contour technology and took it to another company, Digital Domain 3.0.

Rearden argued that Disney infringed its copyright in Contour by working with Digital Domain to utilize the technology in "Beauty and the Beast." It requested monetary damages including a cut of the profits from the film, which Rearden said had earned more than $1.25 billion worldwide.

Rearden also filed related lawsuits against Disney's 20th Century Fox and Marvel Studios that were paused during the "Beauty and the Beast" case. Disney has denied wrongdoing.

Paramount faced a separate lawsuit from Rearden over its alleged misuse of the technology in the 2015 film "Terminator: Genesys." Paramount denied the allegations, and the companies asked the court to pause the case in February while they discussed a potential settlement.

The case is Rearden LLC v. Walt Disney Pictures, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 4:17-cv-04006.