Characters for Hire (CFH), LLC., a business that offers characters for themed events, is being sued by Disney for copyright infringement. Based on intellectual property rights, Disney claims that the business is a “knock-off” of their characters from popular properties including Star Wars, Marvel, and Frozen. This business got Disney’s attention as it is providing “unlicensed and
poor quality appearances and performances” of these iconic characters. The business has admitted to attempting to change the names of the popular characters and movie titles in their customer reviews such as “Darth Vader” to “Dark Lord” and “Star Wars” to “Star Battle”. The lawsuit notes that these are violations to Disney’s copyrights and trademark rights by these character appearances and un-permitted advertising. The two terms
differentiate from each other by how copyright relates to the creative work whereas trademark refers to the origin or brand of the subject.
The defendant, Characters for Hire, questions whether Disney truly owns the rights to those characters by showing that Thor and Loki originate from Norse mythology as well as how Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Aladdin, and others come from old folk tales. Nick Sarelli, owner of CFH, hopes that the court will see that he is simply using the names of these characters to distinguish the “costume entertainment services” that his business revolves around. In contrast, Disney believes
that Sarelli’s “knock-off” characters will damage the popularity the characters have to their fans, especially the children, and will harm the positive reputation the company has associated with those characters.
Thank you Bhavini Mistry for your valuable contribution to this article.
poor quality appearances and performances” of these iconic characters. The business has admitted to attempting to change the names of the popular characters and movie titles in their customer reviews such as “Darth Vader” to “Dark Lord” and “Star Wars” to “Star Battle”. The lawsuit notes that these are violations to Disney’s copyrights and trademark rights by these character appearances and un-permitted advertising. The two terms
differentiate from each other by how copyright relates to the creative work whereas trademark refers to the origin or brand of the subject.
The defendant, Characters for Hire, questions whether Disney truly owns the rights to those characters by showing that Thor and Loki originate from Norse mythology as well as how Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Aladdin, and others come from old folk tales. Nick Sarelli, owner of CFH, hopes that the court will see that he is simply using the names of these characters to distinguish the “costume entertainment services” that his business revolves around. In contrast, Disney believes
that Sarelli’s “knock-off” characters will damage the popularity the characters have to their fans, especially the children, and will harm the positive reputation the company has associated with those characters.
Thank you Bhavini Mistry for your valuable contribution to this article.