by Sarah Kuta
Last updated: 2:05 PM ET, Tue June 16, 2026
MSC Cruises is being taken to court over alleged intellectual property theft.
On June 2, Alessandra Maderni, founder and chief executive officer of Dreamology Labs, Inc., filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against MSC Cruises, MSC Cruises USA and MSC Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago.
Maderni is accusing the cruise line of “a years-long pattern of fraudulent business inducement, breach of a nondisclosure agreement and trade secret misappropriation,” according to a statement.
Maderni says she spent years developing proprietary experiential entertainment IP and travel-technology ventures, including the Shipsomnia franchise and XploraWorld platform. She alleges MSC Cruises later launched at least four onboard attractions and entertainment offerings aboard multiple vessels that incorporated proprietary IP and commercialization strategies without credit or compensation.
She’s suing MSC Cruises over 11 different issues valued at nearly $1.9 billion, including trade secret misappropriation, copyright infringement, breach of NDA, fraudulent inducement and additional allegations involving business practices and abuse of corporate authority.
In a statement, an MSC Cruises’ spokesperson said the company is aware of the complaint.
“The company strongly disputes the allegations and intends to defend itself vigorously through the appropriate legal process, including by holding Ms. Maderni and Dreamology Labs responsible for their false and defamatory statements,” according to the statement. “Because this matter is now in litigation, we will not comment further on the specifics of the claims.”
CORRECTION: Upon original publication, the article said the damaged amounted to $1.9 million. The real total is $1.9 billion.
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