Key Takeaways

  • Disney takes copyright and trademark infringement seriously, protecting its characters and other intellectual properties with strict enforcement.

  • Copyright law protects original works of authorship, such as literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works.

  • Disney owns all intellectual property rights to its brands, characters, titles, and other properties.

  • The company has an extensive history of legal action to protect its characters from unauthorized use.

  • Certain uses, such as criticism, commentary, and educational purposes, may qualify as fair use.

 

The Disney Group takes copyright infringement and trademark infringement seriously and has copyright and trademark registrations to protect its various rights and characters.
 

Anyone who wants to use the characters from the Disney franchise must follow legal requirements to avoid infringing on the company's intellectual property rights. 
 

This article will discuss the basics of Disney copyright law and how the company protects its characters and other rights. 

 

What is Copyright Law?

Copyright law is a type of intellectual property law meant to protect original ‘works of authorship.’ This includes literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. 
 

The primary purpose of copyright law is to give the creator of the original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution. These rights are usually given for a limited time so the creator can profit from their work during that time.

 

Disney's Intellectual Property Portfolio

Disney's anti-piracy clause is notoriously strict. The Walt Disney Company and its affiliates own all intellectual property rights to the brands, cartoon characters, titles, and other properties.
 

The clause restricts the unauthorized use of:
 

  • Titles

  • Feature-length motion pictures

  • Characters

  • Music

  • Games

  • Publications

  • Animated productions

  • Other elements from Disney productions


The Disney Group's Rights

Disney protects its rights to ensure it can continue providing quality entertainment that meets its previous standards and the expectations of its customers. Disney is notorious for taking quick action once known instances of infringement arise.

 

 

Brief History of Disney Copyright Law

The Walt Disney Company (formed in 1923) and Walt Disney have created a series of highly memorable and beloved fictional characters in modern culture. 
 

Throughout its history, the company has had several newsworthy incidents of suing people and businesses for the unauthorized use of its characters.

 


 

Examples of Lawsuits for Disney Trademark Infringement

Here are a few of those high-profile cases. 

Academy Awards Telecast (1989)

Disney filed a lawsuit against the Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1989 when an entertainer portrayed Snow White as part of the opening act of the Academy Awards telecast. 
 

The Academy did not have permission from Disney.

Disney Sues Lightsaber Academy (2016)

Michael Brown, an entrepreneur, owned many businesses that utilized Star Wars copyright and trademarks, particularly: 
 

  • Brown’s Lightsaber Academy

  • Thrills and Skills

  • New York Jedi businesses
     

After sending multiple cease and desist letters to Brown, Disney eventually filed a complaint with a federal court in California in 2016.
 

The complaint stated that the defendant regularly used the Lucasfilm trademarks and copyrights without authorization in business activities. 
 

One of the infringing activities was using a logo almost identical to the trademarked Jedi Order logo.

Disney Sues a Family-Owned Small Business (2008)

David and Marisol Chaveco, a couple from Clermont, Florida, owned a small party business. 
 

They became national news when Disney filed a lawsuit against them for copyright and trademark infringement, seeking damages worth $1 million. They allegedly committed infringement after they advertised the availability of two costumes for parties on their business website. 
 

The costumes allegedly purchased on eBay closely resembled Disney's copyrighted characters Tigger and Eeyore.
 

As part of its track record of swiftly protecting its trademark and other intellectual property rights, Disney sent cease and desist letters with several demands.

 

 

Guidelines for Avoiding Copyright Infringement

Disney has established itself as one of the world's largest entertainment companies. It has an extensive intellectual property portfolio, including many copyright and trademark rights.
 

If you have a business idea involving Disney trademarks or copyrights, consult an attorney before using them.
 

These are some additional strategies that can help you avoid Disney copyright infringement.
 

This non-exhaustive list includes:

Obtaining Permission to Use Disney Characters

To use the characters legally, you must request and be granted permission from Disney Enterprises. Multiple corporate entities of Disney own many of the intellectual property rights of Disney characters. 
 

To learn more about which Disney entity owns the character you want to use, visit the Disney website. You can also submit a request to use Disney property here. 
 

If you or your company wants to use Disney characters in the long term, Disney might require a licensing agreement, which involves payment for the rights to use the characters. 
 

Disney can also decline to permit the use of its characters.

Fair Use of Disney Characters

One potential exception to copyright infringement for using Disney's characters is fair use. 
 

Copyright law provides some exceptions to copyright infringement in which an entity can reproduce a reference or a protected character. 
 

Under this exception, permission from Disney would not be required.
 

For example, if a movie review included an image of one of the characters, this might be considered fair use. Consult an attorney to help you determine if your planned use qualifies as a fair use.
 

In the example of the Academy Awards telecast, Disney filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement due to the use of Snow White in the opening act. 
 

Based on the doctrine of fair use, a law professor could show video clips of the Academy Awards telecast and the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarves as part of a lesson about intellectual property protection and rights.

Transformative Use of Disney Characters

Another example of an exception to copyright infringement is transformative use.
 

The transformative use law provides that if one changes the work to ensure it isn't an identical copy, the resulting product may be referred to as a derivative work.
 

One example might be an artist who creates an original oil painting of a family, including the artist's version of Tinkerbell.
 

Using the transformed Tinkerbell character as a family member may qualify as a fair use. 
 

Using the transformed Tinkerbell in the piece of art could also be considered a transformative use of the character, and the completed painting might be referred to as a derivative work. 
 

The original copyright owner may still own derivative works. For this reason, it is important to consult with an attorney before approaching Transformative Uses.


 

When Is Unauthorized Use Not Trademark Infringement?

Trademark law requires a rights owner to police their mark. For this reason, Disney is known to take necessary steps to protect its trademark rights. 
 

Without strong licensing agreements, the company believes it will be unable to control the nature and quality of its trademark rights. 
 

In the U.S., individuals and companies holding federally registered trademarks have the legal right to file lawsuits against other parties using them without authorization.
 

However, there are two exceptions or affirmative defenses: nominative fair use and functional use.

Nominative Fair Use

Nominative fair use is a concept in trademark law that is similar in some ways to copyright law’s fair use exception. Copyright law’s fair use exception permits specific uses of copyrighted work without authorization or payment. 
 

For example, under the affirmative defense of trademark nominative fair use, a person or entity may use a trademark to compare the products or services to their own. 
 

Several factors apply to nominative fair use. Consult a trademark attorney to help determine whether your intended use may qualify as a nominative fair use.

Functional Use

If a trademark is used functionally, it may qualify as an exception to trademark infringement, even if it is unauthorized. 
 

Functional use is somewhat similar to the concept of fair use in copyright law. If a person uses the trademark for purposes other than letting the public know the source of products or services, the use may possibly qualify as a functional use. 
 

Consult an attorney to determine whether your intended use may qualify as a functional use.


 

Learn More About Trademark and Copyright Infringement

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UpCounsel accepts only the top 5% of lawyers. Copyright attorneys on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law. They have an average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.