![Dawn Ellmore examines Disney’s legal action against costume company
It’s common to see actors dressed as well-known characters from films and cartoons
hired for childrens’ parties. One company’s character offerings are not going down
well with Disney and its subsidiaries, however.
In March 2016, Marvel, LucasFilm and Disney filed motions for summary judgement
against New York based company, Characters for Hire (CFH). More recently they
requested that the Court holds as a matter of law that CFH are wilfully infringing
Disney copyrights and trade marks.
Characters from Disney films
Characters enacted by CFH, and therefore affected by this legal action, include
those from Frozen, fairy tale characters like Cinderella and Snow White, classics like
Mickey Mouse, characters from the Star Wars films and superheroes such as Iron
Man.
The Plaintiffs allege that CFH is using characters without a licence, and that the
copied costumes are of such poor quality they are diluting their IP (intellectual
property).
CFH contest Disney’s allegations
The company argues that they don’t infringe any of the copyright registrations and
say that: "Each of [Disney's trade mark] claims fail for essentially the same reason –
there is simply no likelihood of confusion that arises from CFH's activities as to the
source or sponsorship of the costumed entertainment services that CFH provides."
Disney cite the fact that CFH have changed the character names in an attempt to
distance them from Disney’s property. For example, CFH use the phrase “Star](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/dawnellmoreexaminesdisney-171214153118/85/Dawn-Ellmore-examines-Disney-s-legal-action-against-costume-company-1-320.jpg)
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Dawn Ellmore examines Disney’s legal action against costume company
- 1. Dawn Ellmore examines Disney’s legal action against costume company It’s common to see actors dressed as well-known characters from films and cartoons hired for childrens’ parties. One company’s character offerings are not going down well with Disney and its subsidiaries, however. In March 2016, Marvel, LucasFilm and Disney filed motions for summary judgement against New York based company, Characters for Hire (CFH). More recently they requested that the Court holds as a matter of law that CFH are wilfully infringing Disney copyrights and trade marks. Characters from Disney films Characters enacted by CFH, and therefore affected by this legal action, include those from Frozen, fairy tale characters like Cinderella and Snow White, classics like Mickey Mouse, characters from the Star Wars films and superheroes such as Iron Man. The Plaintiffs allege that CFH is using characters without a licence, and that the copied costumes are of such poor quality they are diluting their IP (intellectual property). CFH contest Disney’s allegations The company argues that they don’t infringe any of the copyright registrations and say that: "Each of [Disney's trade mark] claims fail for essentially the same reason – there is simply no likelihood of confusion that arises from CFH's activities as to the source or sponsorship of the costumed entertainment services that CFH provides." Disney cite the fact that CFH have changed the character names in an attempt to distance them from Disney’s property. For example, CFH use the phrase “Star
- 2. Battles story line” instead of “Star Wars”, “Dark Lord” rather than “Darth Vader” and “Big Hairy Guy” versus “Chewbacca”. Characters in the public domain CFH go on to argue that most of Disney’s characters derive from ancient fairy tales and Norse mythology, and are therefore already in the public domain. Whether the Court will accept this remains to be seen and we think it most likely that they will hold that CFH is infringing on the Plaintiff’s trade marks and copyright.