[HOAX] Disney sues indie game developer for $78K over a Mickey Mouse parody

EDIT: Looks like this was a hoax; supposedly, someone unaffiliated with Disney sent a fake official-looking letter and a couple phone calls to the author of the game in question, and evidently had much of Japan fooled.

I found this link trending in Japan on Twitter.

According to the article, a Japanese doujin circle by the name of "AmoRico" made a freeware Dragon Quest parody with an enemy named "Black Mouse" that was an obvious parody of Mickey Mouse. Disney evidently thought a cease-and-desist wasn't enough and that an appropriate response was to sue them for 6,000,000 yen (just over $78,000 USD by current exchange rates). This seems to have backfired on Disney in a combination Streisand Effect and negative PR.

Kinda makes the page image for Disney Owns This Trope a bit of a "Funny Aneurysm" Moment, doesn't it?

edited 29th Jan '12 6:27:08 PM by PoochyEXE

The real problem here is that copyright law contains a special exemption for parodies, so Disney shouldn't have had legal grounds to sue anybody.

Here's hoping this bites Disney big time.

What Moe said, more or less.

Except the biting them part. Well, I hope Disney learns a lesson, but I love them and owe them a chunk of my heart so I have to say I don't want them to suffer.

I hate copyright laws.

or rather, hate how anal companies get about them.

Isn't 78K a really petty amount for a company the size of Disney to sue for? I guess that's not really the point, but that also emphasizes the frivoloty of suing over a doojin game.

And what is one enemy in it Why the heck they aren't suing over people who do mugen characters next?

edited 28th Jan '12 12:28:15 AM by SpookyMask

This is an attempt to make an example out of them

Also; Japanese copyright law is somewhat stricter than American; they may well have a case

It is? I find that surprising.

^^Really? Thats weird O_o

Yes, to my knowledge, Japanese copyright law isn't quite as explicit about the parody exception. I also doubt they've ever needed it before, since Japanese companies' usual reactions to someone parodying their work seems to range from "Hey, free viral marketing!" to "These guys look talented, let's hire 'em!" to "Sure, it's a legal gray area, but we'll pretend not to notice."

edited 28th Jan '12 1:13:35 AM by PoochyEXE

Thats odd ._. Japan has no problem with Earthbound having music that sounds oddly familiar to certain popular songs...

Ugh. I used to respect Disney, but really? Suing an indie developer over a parody? That's some of the biggest bullshit I've heard all week.

This is like a pro wrestler kicking a midget in the face.

You disappoint me, Disney.

From what I've seen, Japanese laws in general tend to be stricter in terms of the letter of the law, but law enforcement will only enforce the spirit of the law and let gray areas and technicalities slide, and civil cases follow suit. Nobody dares to file a Frivolous Lawsuit because, well, I'd imagine the resulting backlash would ensure they never hold a job again for the rest of their lives. (Just a guess, though.)

Disney's attitude is the exception to the rule in Japan, and they seem to have already garnered a negative reputation for it even before this incident.

edited 28th Jan '12 1:15:12 AM by PoochyEXE

^So while they do have laws that covers those, they use common sense?

...Looking over the original post, it looks like the game was still in development. What the hell?

Best to stop infringement before it gets out there. Common sense, really.

So a Japanese doujin circle finally got sued...sure, the parody aspect of it means that this lawsuit might got thrown out...but I do think it might be good for this to be the lesson that they should better start developing their own stuff instead of making fangames and sell them...bad idea really...especially with the legal issue...

edited 28th Jan '12 2:36:50 AM by onyhow

^^You send a C&D to something that's in development. Suing over something that hasn't happened is ridiculous

^This is a single enemy, not a full-game parody

Sure, and single enemy can still count against it...I mean if it's not in public domain it can still be risky...

...i dont think an indie developer would have 78k to lose.

its just a single enemy. isnt that price just a little high?

While I'm all for parody and such. It's not like they made the enemy to have a reference to Mickey Mouse so much as use his model shamelessly.

Albeit, cease & desist would've been a better move. Since no money was made yet. They could still sell the game if the monster was taken out.

I'm with Disney on this one, however. It's the same reason you can't sell Fanfiction or Abridged Series. Even if the character was renamed, that's still pretty much Mickey Mouse with a different name. I mean, seriously, why would anyone think they could legally do this in the first place? I mean, public domain is not a problem because of why "public domain" exists in the first place. There's tons of legal parodies out there that don't blatantly rip-off the character in general.

As I said, suing was a bit overboard, since they may have not made the money to pay them as of yet. On the other hand, nobody should be allowed to get away with this, so this should send a message to people that ripping off a character and selling them under the term "parody" is definitely not okay.

Actually, it's lower than normal. It could be under the assumption they made money before. Likewise, if it puts them out of business, then that's their own fault for blatantly taking the character and using it without permission from Disney. Parody is a pretty poor excuse when you're making strict money off it. Songs are notably some special exception to this rule. But then again, how many guitar riffs can you use before it sounds the same?

edited 28th Jan '12 3:04:13 AM by Hydronix

so people keep saying the word "sell"

but isnt this a freeware?

@Hydronix: You might want to say that to something like Bored of the Rings, Va Dinci Cod...that might be a more proper parody but still...

edited 28th Jan '12 3:08:15 AM by onyhow

Being Freeware may sound fine at first.

But they sure didn't get permission to use the character, clearly. Of course, any company could sue if they wanted to. A lot of them don't even care in the first place. Take the infamous Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged. 4Kids actually found it funny. It got taken down because people thought it was breaking the law, and had nothing to do with the actual authors of the original Yu Gi Oh series.

However, despite being protected under copyright, Disney did have a right to sue in the first place.

Keep in mind that I still think suing was overboard, and a Cease & Desist order is more appropriate.

I think there's quite a difference between a Game and a Fanfiction(or variation of one).

edited 28th Jan '12 3:09:47 AM by Hydronix