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Morgan and Morgan takes Disney to court over 'Steamboat Willie' in ads

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Re: Morgan and Morgan takes Disney to court over 'Steamboat Willie' in ads

#11

Post by wingspar »

Good change it’s all for free press. Morgan and Morgan is huge, and John Morgan is toying with a run for Florida governor. He was a big force behind a marijuana legalization push, first medical, then recreational.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/15/john-morgan-florida...

Re: Morgan and Morgan takes Disney to court over 'Steamboat Willie' in ads

#12

Post by joecool1029 »

cognomano wrote: post #2

I suppose trademark law will be the catch-all protection Disney will be using from now.

That was the plan for years now. They made steamboat willie a part of their animation wing's trademark more than a decade ago: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MJkQ-1Jvf0g

Re: Morgan and Morgan takes Disney to court over 'Steamboat Willie' in ads

#13

Post by flkiwi »

Morgan and Morgan is a plaintiffs firm specializing in personal injury (though they have other areas of practice). For those not familiar with the US system, if someone hits a victim with their car, a victim slips and falls in a store, etc. and the victim sues, Morgan and Morgan commonly handles that type of case for the victim. Basically the usual "Americans will sue each other for anything" type of law firm (though I don't strictly mean that to be criticism). Morgan & Morgan's business model places a heavy emphasis on convincing the defendant to settle before litigation. They also depend heavily on advertising. Regardless of what happens next, this story is a free "Morgan and Morgan stands up to the big guy for you" headline.

Apropos of nothing, the firm's founder, John Morgan, has been instrumental in attempting to legalize marijuana in Florida, which some have identified as a potential, but very funny, conflict of interest given the type of work Morgan and Morgan does.

Re: Morgan and Morgan takes Disney to court over 'Steamboat Willie' in ads

#14

Post by joecool1029 »

gamblor956 wrote: post #6
klustregrif wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lego already tried this approach and it doesn’t work. You cannot use trademark law to extend expired patents or copyrights. The real ad here is them baiting Disney and running this fairly open and shut case. Of cause they can use public domain material in their commercial and Disney can’t prevent them.

Copyright only applies to specific expressions. Mickey is still a trademark of the Disney corporation. You're right though. This is an open and shut case that Morgan and Morgan will lose. There's only several decades of case law on this...

We're talking about parody though, there's case law suggesting it would be fine: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/intellectual_property_law...

Re: Morgan and Morgan takes Disney to court over 'Steamboat Willie' in ads

#15

Post by crooked-v »

shmerl wrote: post #8

Typical. They want to profit from copyright but they don't want it to ever expire even if the law requires it. Mickey Mouse curve is their invention.

The suit is about trademark. Whether it'll fly or not is up in the air, but that's the reason that Disney actively made the "Steamboat Willie" version part of their pre-film branding.

Re: Morgan and Morgan takes Disney to court over 'Steamboat Willie' in ads

#16

Post by hamdingers »

cognomano wrote: post #2

I suppose trademark law will be the catch-all protection Disney will be using from now.

Am I wrong in thinking this makes more sense than decades/centuries long copyrights?

Let the copyright on a work expire so I can share my copy of Toy Story with my friends, but retain a trademark on the characters so that I can't go around making new Toy Story movies (or theme parks or pajamas).

Re: Morgan and Morgan takes Disney to court over 'Steamboat Willie' in ads

#17

Post by shmerl »

crooked-v wrote: post #15
shmerl wrote: post #8

Typical. They want to profit from copyright but they don't want it to ever expire even if the law requires it. Mickey Mouse curve is their invention.

The suit is about trademark. Whether it'll fly or not is up in the air, but that's the reason that Disney actively made the "Steamboat Willie" version part of their pre-film branding.

It's just their attempt to weasel out of the actual copyright expiration.

Re: Morgan and Morgan takes Disney to court over 'Steamboat Willie' in ads

#18

Post by cool_dude85 »

hamdingers wrote: post #16
cognomano wrote: post #2

I suppose trademark law will be the catch-all protection Disney will be using from now.

Am I wrong in thinking this makes more sense than decades/centuries long copyrights? Let the copyright on a work expire so I can share my copy of Toy Story with my friends, but retain a trademark on the characters so that I can't go around making new Toy Story movies (or theme parks or pajamas).

But why shouldn't you be able to make a new Toy Story movie 100 years, give or take, after the original?
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