Last year, Mickey Mouse’s in Steamboat Willie became a public domain and initiated tons of horror parodies of Disney’s iconic mascot. Walt Disney Company gave movies like David Howard Thornton-starring Screamboat A passport, but apparently it thinks there is a limit to how much other companies can get away with using Mickey’s iconic nautical portrayal.
Disney has been in litigation after enforcing his intellectual property rights to his grades in Steamboat Willie Against two companies seeking to use Mickey for marketing and retail purposes. According to the Hollywood reporter, Morgan & Morgan, a US-based personal injury company, tried to use Steamboat Willie In an advertisement that Disney met with resistance. Thr also reports that a jewelry company, Satéur, tried to get rid of Merch with Steamboat Willie as official – which is where the legality is all grimmed in Disney’s eyes.
Disney stands firm that despite the short is public space, it does not mean that competitors can violate trademarks that protect its brands as it maintains, includes various representations of Mickey Mouse, as the character has been itered in almost a century ago Steamboat Willierelease. The lawsuit says Disney has a history of “aggressive enforcement of intellectual property rights” exemplified in the company’s “rejection of waiving an intention to participate in enforcement against” Morgan & Morgan and Satéur.
Kelly Klaus, a lawyer for the complaint, was quoted in the complaint as clarifying that especially these companies, Satéur, “violating Disney’s continued rights over its trademarks that identify Disney as the source of goods and services and to take advantage of the goodwill that Disney has built with the public for decades,” and “As Disney has stated in public while copyright expired on Steamboat Willie Motion Picture, Mickey Mouse will continue to play a leading role as a global ambassador for Disney. “
Morgan & Morgan used Steamboat Versions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse in an ad that sees Mickey down a steamboat in Minnie’s car that makes her call the injury company and at least reveals that the video is not affiliated or approved by Disney. Its use along with horror films that use the character in parody is one thing, but it is another when companies try to pass on the character like approving their goods and services. Satéur, on the other hand, seems to fall into the latter category as the THR story reports that several consumers complaints have been filed for the better business agency for the dirty accessories they were misled to buy and thought they were official Disney products.
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