There is no better guardian of Intellectual Property in the entertainment industry than Walt Disney, who has recurrently been in news for proactively protecting its IP portfolio. Its globally recognized images, cartoon characters have become highly profitable industries in themselves. Millions of dollars are made off by the commercialization of these and similar characters that appear on toys, clothing, and literally hundreds of other consumer products.
Disney has earned the title of being very litigious for a reason. Whether it is keeping Mickey Mouse out of public domain[1]; or suing to protecting its movie’s logo due to being confusingly similar – Disney surely knows how to protect its brand.
The media entertainment giant, this time around has brought a lawsuit against a Venezuela company for a live show by the name “Aventura Congeladas” (meaning “Frozen Adventure”) for copyright infringement. It has been alleged that the show copied various characters from Disney’s highest grossing films such as ‘Frozen’, ‘Star Wars’ and other Marvel movies[2] (Marvel Entertainment LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, which develops and produces its own films based on Marvel characters). Last year, Disney had sent a cease and desist letter to the said company, and later a stay order was issued over the marketing and promotions pertaining to the show as they were being used without Disney’s permission. Initially the notice was adhered to. However, they resumed the show with a changed name – “Vacaciones de Aventuras” (meaning “Adventure Holidays”) which continues to infringe Disney’s copyright over characters such as ‘Captain America’, ‘Spiderman, ‘Avengers’ and the likes. Hence the present lawsuit is filed.
Since the said show has been repeatedly infringing Disney’s characters, the lawsuit is likely to be battled out in the court. Considering the Venezuelan company is infringing the copyrighted characters and acquiring commercial benefits, the decision will presumably go in Disney’s favor leaving the latter to pay hefty damages.
[1] “15 years ago, Congress kept Mickey Mouse out of the public domain. Will they do it again?”, available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2013/10/25/15-years-ago-congress-kept-mickey-mouse-out-of-the-public-domain-will-they-do-it-again/
[2]“Disney & Marvel You Steal Elsa & Spider-Man … We’ll Sue For Millions!”, available at shttp://www.tmz.com/2015/11/28/disney-marvel-lawsuit-frozen-show/