Disney busts pinata makers
The piñata is a game in which a succession of blindfolded, stick-wielding children try to break a bright candy-and-toy-filled container (generally suspended on a rope from a tree branch or ceiling) … traditionally they were made in the shape of human or animal figures (often a donkey) but, in recent times, vehicles, cartoon characters, or corporate mascots have gained in popularity — Wikipedia
p2pnet.net News:- Walt Disney and four other entertainment cartel companies are suing a couple of downtown Los Angeles produce vendors for allegedly selling counterfeit pinatas, says the LA Times.
Come again? Yup.
The piñatas look like characters such as Cinderella and Dora the Explorer, says the story, going on:
“Pinata makers, known as pinateros, are a cottage industry in Los Angeles. Their pinatas, which look much different than the pinatas found in chain stores, are generally sold in small shops in Latino neighborhoods.
Some pinatas are illegal, “because they resemble licensed characters and are sold without the owner`s permission, Disney Enterprises Inc., Sanrio Co., Cartoon Network, Viacom International Inc. and Hanna-Barbera Productions alleged in a lawsuit filed last month.”
“Our characters and our brands are the lifeblood of our business and we are vigilant about protecting our intellectual property against illegal usage,” Viacom spokeswoman Julia Phelps is quoted as saying.
Phkn roll on.
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See:-
LA Times – Disney, Viacom go after fake pinatas, June 20, 2005
June 20th, 2005 at 7:08 pm
Some of these cartoon characters should have been in “public domain”, but thanks to these corrupt corporations, “not in our lifetime”.
A critical mass is very close to being reached …
June 20th, 2005 at 7:14 pm
YOU’LL get busted for using that Scrooge pic Jon. hehe
June 20th, 2005 at 7:28 pm
I might buy or rent their movies after I have downloaded what will be $500 worth if I had purchaesed them. Disney is in danger of losing another customer to downloading if they persists in this type of abuse.
June 20th, 2005 at 7:57 pm
Disney is far from having lilly white hands. Copyrighting an existing character for their flagship image, the mouse hails back to a previous work called Steamboat Willie.
The Lion Sleeps Tonight was originally recorded by Pete Segar who got the tune from what he believed to be an African folksong. He later learned that wasn’t the case and the tune was indeed owned. He paid royalties on the song without any sort of court mandate and did so willingly once he learned it was not as he thought a folk-lore tune. However Disney went the full 9 yards in court, fighting the case. They won, as usual by being the one with the most money. A ruling on the version used in the movie had been established, however warpsided it was.
For doing far less than the same thing, now every corporation wants to turf protect, be it Microsucks or a media corporation. It is alright for them to steal images, tunes, and methods. By the same viewpoint they feel it isn’t alright for others to follow in their own footsteps.
June 20th, 2005 at 9:33 pm
I don’t want to contradict you but “Steamboat Willie” was actually Mickey mouse
as directed by none other than Disney himself. This is why Disney use the clip
as their flagship toon.
June 21st, 2005 at 12:28 am
this is such bull crap… I fucking hate copywrites that make this possible…
June 21st, 2005 at 6:34 am
Since the pinateros cannot use disney characters anymore, maybe the “Dan Glickman” or “Mitch Bainwol” Pinata would be a good seller… I know a few people who would love to hang him in effigy and beat him with a stick =P
Cheers, Zathras
June 21st, 2005 at 10:14 am
Made me laugh LOFL. Good one mate.
June 21st, 2005 at 10:15 am
to make it fun!
June 22nd, 2005 at 4:11 am
What we need are GPL style-licensing on some new, original cartoons. Hey there independant film-makers, anyone want to do some “good for the public” and make a few characters for the kids?
Then we can all copy them and use them for our logos, pinatas, splashguards, bumper-stickers, t-shirts, etc, etc.
And It would be a great way to shove a friendly finger in the air at Disney corp. Let them see people switching over.
If done right, these GPL-style licensed cartoons (with a caveat for family-rating, of course), could really take off. Just look at the many iterations of Tux and how popular he is…..