The trademark-infringement action by a French author accusing Disney of stealing Nemo appears to have ended in Disney's favor. There remains a probable copyright action (for a general description, see IPKAT). Unlike the esteemed kitten, I do not believe that the copyright suit has a chance, because (unlike in trademark) independent creation is a complete defense to a copyright infringement claim, despite some domestic claims in France that such is not the case. However, the dancing around will be interesting nonetheless.