A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit filed against The Walt Disney Co. from British screenwriter Jake Mandeville-Anthony claiming that the studio's CARS franchise was lifted from his work, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Mandeville-Anthony had claimed that the Pixar property was a copy of his COOKIE & CO., a script about real-life racecar driver Michael Owen Perkins, and his CARS script that feature animated racecars designs.

Mandeville-Anthony claims he created the works 20 years ago and at one time met with a Lucasfilm exec that later moved onto Pixar as their GM.

The judge ruled that the works did not meet the "substantial similarity" benchmark and that the statute of limitations had expired on the claim as well.