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To say that the Walt Disney Company is known for the fierce protection of its intellectual property (copyright, trademarks, etc) is probably the understatement of the year. So I was not surprised when they asked musician Deadmau5 (aka Joel Zimmerman) not to trademark his ‘trademark’ DJ costume. Like the name implies, it resembles a mouse. Disney has a trademark on the look and feel of Mickey Mouse so they were understandably worried. But the two really don’t have anything in common other than what mice naturally share (ears, eyes, and a mouth).
I think Disney might be making a mountain out of a molehill on this one. As a creature, a mouse is pretty ubiquitous. No one, even an idiot in a hurry, is going to confuse the technopunk Deadmau5 headpiece with the classic Mickey Mouse silhouette. Letting Zimmerman have his intellectual property appear on toys, clothing, or other products will in no way harm Disney’s vast wealth in the same arena.
Since I expect Deadmau5 to win pretty handily in court, I’ve been paying attention to the case only loosely. But a story in The Hollywood Reporter today, caught my attention. Turns out, while one arm of Disney was preparing to sue Deadmau5, another appendage was asking him to collaborate.
Disney’s music division asked him if he wanted to produce some music for Disney’s new animated series Star Wars Rebels. But he lost that opportunity because of the dispute. Disney, through a third party, also offered him the opportunity of contributing to a live concert series commemorating the 75th anniversary of Fantasia. In the invitation, Disney’s business partner states:
“Deadmau5 is the most innovative musician of our time, and Disney the most successful entertainment brand to ever exist. Bringing these two visionaries together, with this particular franchise, provides for an incredible opportunity that could touch millions of people around the world.”
They even sent Deadmau5 a mockup of his intellectual property combined with Disneys iconic Sorcerer Mickey (above).
Read More »Legal sparring between Disney and Deadmau5 reveals existence of new Fantasia project?
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A few months ago Deadline Hollywood posted a memo ABC/Disney sent to it’s show runners asking them to in essence help them copy foreign shows without having to pay for the rights to them. Now FRAPA, the foriegn body responsible for protecting those rights has… Read More »Disney asked to repudiate copying foreign shows