Case Comment Ainane Maryam

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Turin, 12 July 2021

Maryam Ainane

N° matricula: 915331 INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT-CASE LAW COMMENT

WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS v THE AIR PIRATES, 345 F. SUPP. 108 (1972)

This case involves the admitted copying of plaintiff Walt Disney Productions' cartoon characters in

defendants' adult "parodic" comic books. The defendants are three individuals and two business entities

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operated by them. The complaint alleges infringement of Disney copyrights, an involvement in unfair

competition, and commercial denigration. Disney has filed for injunction, destruction of infringing

materials, damages, costs and legal fees.

As according to Judge Wollenberg, the facts are indisputably the following. The actor holds valid copyrights

on the works indicated in the first seven causes of action. Copyrighted works comprise a series of cartoon

drawings ranging in length from a single page to "book length". They portray the antics of the characters

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created by the actor, with "balloons" above their heads containing dialogue, creating a narrative.

The plaintiff holds that the defendants infringed Disney copyrights by copying the graphic representation of

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more than seventeen characters. All the characters depict animals, two of them are, specifically, insects,

with human qualities. Each character has a recognizable image.

The defendants argue that even if the actor's characters are protected, their use was a fair use and that the

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conduct of the defendants is protected by the First Amendment . The defendants insist that there was no

trademark infringement or unfair competition. While Disney argues that the provisions of § 3 of the law

extend the protection to graphic representation as an "integral part of copyright" of the whole work, the

defendants claim that characters, isolated, are not protected. The defendants cite many cases in support of

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their argument.

The district court found that Disney's graphic representations were enforceable under Section 3 of the then

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Copyright Act as component parts of Disney's copyrighted work. The fair use defense was dismissed

1 The individual defendants are Ted Richards, Dan O'Neill and Bobby London. The defendant organizations, The Air

Pirates and Hell Comics, are appellants.

2 345 F. Supp. 108 (1972) WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS, Plaintiff, v. The AIR PIRATES et al., Defendants. No. C-71 2021.

United States District Court, N. D. California. July 7, 1972, page 1

3 Subsequently Toby Tortoise, Max Hare and other cartoon characters were added in Count 11 (R. 466-467, 486;

plaintiff's Br. 3). At least 21 characters are now involved (R. 486) including such well known favorites as Mickey and

Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, the Big Bad Wolf, t