Any copyright experts on the forum?

[Colin]

Are there any forum members who know much about copyright with regards to images?

I have been given lots of advice but no 2 people seem to agree! I have tried looking at information on the web and ended up with a headache and even more confused.

Given that I paint murals for kids I get lots of requests for Disney characters. I personally feel that I do not harm Disney by doing them, but I am pretty sure that I should seek permissions from Walt and his minions. I know for a fact that the majority of my competitors do Disney stuff without permission, but I don't want to break the law, so do I need to get permission or not, and if I do, do Disney grant it?

I am on the verge of contacting Disney - I have a name and fax number to contact, but I am worried about setting myself up to either be sued by Disney or put myself at a disadvantage in comparison with my less scrupulous competitors.

Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

 

[gary]

I think you should have a word with a copyright solicitor. I know there are a couple of solicitors on this forum who can help, but otherwise have a chat with Alex Chapman or Paul Randle at Briffa ( http://www.briffa.com ) - they specialise in IP law.

Gary

 

[Limeone]

Disney have a very quick legal team to pursue copyright breaches. The merchandising arm of the Disney Corporation is long and earns them a huge amount of cash. All the popular characters are internationally trademarked and Disney do enforce their rights.

You need to consider very carefully this route forward and maybe create your own characters which do not belong to Disney even if they maybe inspired by them.

 

[VeryMark]

You may be interested to know that we have a free virtual guide to Trade Marks, Brand Protection & Related Copyright & Design which is available either as a mini cd-rom, via email, or as a download from the Sunday Times Enterprise Network website via this link: [/url]http://www.enterprisenetwork.co.uk/downloads/Trade%20Marks.exe. The virtual guide is sealed with a ‘Thawte’ Content Signed Certificate (Microsoft Authenticode) allowing safe electronic distribution over the Internet.

 

[Ozzy]

Hi Philip,
No need to post the same message several times, honest!