Getting sued by Disney?

[wdwcarla]

This is probably a stupid question but it has been nagging at me a lot lately. A couple months ago I started a Disney planning website and etsy shop that sells Disney World planners. I just kind of started doing it for fun, and to fight the blues after a Disney trip, but it's getting to the point where I should probably claim it on my taxes. It's pretty exciting and pretty fun, but I do use the image of Mickey Mouse, and other things that are definitely not owned by me. I've been digging around trying to figure out copyright laws, but I just end up finding no answers. Everything seems to be a gray area, especially since there are very similar businesses that seem to be thriving. I'm considering just shutting down the shop to be safe. Getting sued would definitely not be worth it. What do you all think? I know I'm probably overreacting, but I've heard some crazy etsy copyright horror stories!

 

[cluvsdisney]

Under no circumstance would I base a business using licensed characters I have no rights to use. If the planners could be produced in such a way that they have the essence of disney (color scheme, ambiguous phrase, etc) that wouldnt violate copyright laws, I would do that but I wouldn't be puttingMickey Mouse on them.

 

[tvguy]

This is not recent, but Disney has taken small timers to court over such things.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...EtWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Q-oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6450,1459823

 

[wdwcarla]

Under no circumstance would I base a business using licensed characters I have no rights to use. If the planners could be produced in such a way that they have the essence of disney (color scheme, ambiguous phrase, etc) that wouldnt violate copyright laws, I would do that but I wouldn't be puttingMickey Mouse on them.

I can avoid using Disney characters, but what about some of Disney "phrases" like FastPass+ or the park names?

 

[wdwcarla]

This is not recent, but Disney has taken small timers to court over such things.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...EtWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Q-oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6450,1459823

This is the exact type of stuff I'm scared of! But will removing the Mickey Mouse ears be enough?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I can avoid using Disney characters, but what about some of Disney "phrases" like FastPass+ or the park names?

Pretty sure those are trademarked/copyrighted and cannot be used.

Found a list. I wouldn't consider it complete. But it is a start at what you would not be able to use.
http://help.disney.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/Legal-Notices

You can use adjectives that describe Disney. Like magical, spectacular, etc. Individual words aren't usually protected--but again, know your law.

But you may refer to theme parks.

 

[SamRoc]

Be very careful in the images you use. I had a website for a home i used to own near Disney and the guy who made it used some images that i didn't realize he couldn't. I got a letter from a Disney lawyer saying to take off the pics immediately or face fines and worse possibly! My son removed them immediately.

 

[Happy Snowman]

This is the exact type of stuff I'm scared of! But will removing the Mickey Mouse ears be enough?

Why take the chance? I'm not quite sure what you are selling, plans to visit or notebook type things for people to use? If you are selling something that has Disney anything on it, you are violating their trademarks and copywrites. They are bigger than you and have more money....just not worth it.

 

[wdwcarla]

Why take the chance? I'm not quite sure what you are selling, plans to visit or notebook type things for people to use? If you are selling something that has Disney anything on it, you are violating their trademarks and copywrites. They are bigger than you and have more money....just not worth it.

I sell planners to help people organize their Disney trips. So I have to have things that say "Magic Kingdom plans" or "FastPass+ reservations," etc, so that everything has a separate page. I don't sell clothing or anything that Disney sells themselves, so it's not like it's a "knock-off." But I'm probably going to shut it down, or perhaps offer it for free? Not sure. It was fun to make and it's fun to know that people use it to make their trips better. But it would not be fun to get a cease and desist from Disney

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I don't see how you can get in trouble for having a planner that refers to "Magic Kingdom" or "Fastpass+." Those are the names of those things! That's different from using images of Mickey Mouse, etc. I mean, I write articles about WDW and DL, and nobody expects me to write "the theme park with the elaborately carved tree" instead of Disney's Animal Kingdom. I think you are fine with that kind of thing.

TP

 

[Art 1]

This is probably a stupid question but it has been nagging at me a lot lately. A couple months ago I started a Disney planning website and etsy shop that sells Disney World planners. I just kind of started doing it for fun, and to fight the blues after a Disney trip, but it's getting to the point where I should probably claim it on my taxes. It's pretty exciting and pretty fun, but I do use the image of Mickey Mouse, and other things that are definitely not owned by me. I've been digging around trying to figure out copyright laws, but I just end up finding no answers. Everything seems to be a gray area, especially since there are very similar businesses that seem to be thriving. I'm considering just shutting down the shop to be safe. Getting sued would definitely not be worth it. What do you all think? I know I'm probably overreacting, but I've heard some crazy etsy copyright horror stories!

A good friend was sued and lost by a major Swiss watch company for trademark violations. What he did was very minor and in fact was a hobby that he never made a profit at. They came at him full force. Papers were served by a law firm out of NYC and the hearing was in Miami. The judgement was for a good amount of money. Not long after that he moved out of the USA.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I don't see how you can get in trouble for having a planner that refers to "Magic Kingdom" or "Fastpass+." Those are the names of those things! That's different from using images of Mickey Mouse, etc. I mean, I write articles about WDW and DL, and nobody expects me to write "the theme park with the elaborately carved tree" instead of Disney's Animal Kingdom. I think you are fine with that kind of thing.

TP

You don't sell your articles in a retail market. I think that makes a difference and have heard many Etsy shops get letters to stop. It all depends on the timing.

 

[NewRVLady]

I just searched Etsy
there are 385 "Disney planners" on there=many are really neat!

 

[Teresa Pitman]

You don't sell your articles in a retail market. I think that makes a difference and have heard many Etsy shops get letters to stop. It all depends on the timing.

I do sell my articles to magazines and newspapers, and sometimes to websites.
I wonder what it is that makes the difference.

TP

 

[PeterPanic]

I don't know if this is a fact, but, you are not the only one that does trip planning, but, if you are doing only Disney then it could be more of a problem. Mentioning actual, well known, things that you find in WDW (i.e. Magic Kingdom or Fastpass+) is just informing people that they exist and what the consist of. The only thing that I see that would be a problem would be if you slanted your service in a way that could make someone think that you are an authorized agent of Disney. It seem that enough disclaimers would pretty much take care of dispelling that idea.

However, still check a little deeper before continuing because it probably won't amount to anything, but, if it did, the hassle factor might not be worth the effort.

There are hundreds of "unauthorized" planning books out there. They use symbols and phrases all the time. There must be some way that they are protected from the long arm of Disney legal.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I sell planners to help people organize their Disney trips. So I have to have things that say "Magic Kingdom plans" or "FastPass+ reservations," etc, so that everything has a separate page. I don't sell clothing or anything that Disney sells themselves, so it's not like it's a "knock-off." But I'm probably going to shut it down, or perhaps offer it for free? Not sure. It was fun to make and it's fun to know that people use it to make their trips better. But it would not be fun to get a cease and desist from Disney

Leave a blank space for the person to fill in their own theme park
Instead of FP+, call of ride reservations or something similar.

I see your point that it shouldn't be a problem.

I wonder if using the phrase "FP+ is a registered trademark (or copyright) of the Disney company" would help.



For those "Unauthorized books" the writers are writing about something that exists. That would be a first amendment right thing. You are legally protected to write about something and even making money on it. You would not be a me to use Disney photographs without their permission. Not sure about taking your own photos.

Creating a product such as the Op may just require a little due diligence to ensure that is okay.

It could be that the names are protected in that, you couldn't open your own park with ride passes and calls it Magic Kingdom and FP+. But mentioning them as part of a planner may not be a violation.

I think the font they use may be protected--but not sure.

 

[lizabu]

I think you'd have to be real careful. For example you should not use any of their images or characters. I've seen some people post a blurb about how they are not associated with Disney. And how the following phrases are owned and trademarked by Disney.

 

[wdwcarla]

I don't know if this is a fact, but, you are not the only one that does trip planning, but, if you are doing only Disney then it could be more of a problem. Mentioning actual, well known, things that you find in WDW (i.e. Magic Kingdom or Fastpass+) is just informing people that they exist and what the consist of. The only thing that I see that would be a problem would be if you slanted your service in a way that could make someone think that you are an authorized agent of Disney. It seem that enough disclaimers would pretty much take care of dispelling that idea.

However, still check a little deeper before continuing because it probably won't amount to anything, but, if it did, the hassle factor might not be worth the effort.

There are hundreds of "unauthorized" planning books out there. They use symbols and phrases all the time. There must be some way that they are protected from the long arm of Disney legal.

This was what I was thinking. There are so many other things out there at are obviously Disney World guides. I guess I do have more digging around to do. I always make sure to tell people that I don't work for Disney World, I just have a lot of fun helping people plan their trips.

 

[wdwcarla]

I just searched Etsy
there are 385 "Disney planners" on there=many are really neat!

I'm glad you think so! Some of them pretty blatantly use images of all Disney characters. I just use Mickey (the Mickey head silhouette) but some have gone as far to use the actual images of other movie characters. I wish I could warn them!

 

[Feralpeg]

This might help. Definitely avoid any clipart of characters and official photos.

http://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/copyrights-trademarks-credits/