Or maybe I should say they claim to 0wn Santa? Either way, if you look anything like Santa you should beware the Disney legal enforcement team.
The BBC tells a disturbing story about how the giant corporation reacted when kids seemed to like something on location that Disney was not able to profit directly from:
When James Worley paid a visit to Disney World in Florida his portly frame and white beard soon had kids asking: “Are you Santa Claus?”
Not wanting to disappoint, Mr Worley, 60, played along with some “ho-ho-hos”.
But Disney officials descended, telling him to stop the impersonation or get out of the park. They said they wanted to preserve the magic of Santa.
Mr Worley took off his red hat and red shirt but said: “I look this way 24/7, 365 days a year. This is me.”
[…]
He said Disney had told him “Santa was considered a Disney character”.
Officials at Disney World’s Epcot park said they had had complaints from “several guests who were very upset”.
Hard to tell if the story is exaggerated or leaving out crucial details. For instance, some parents are terrified of imposter Santas, and they often have good reason to be afraid.
In fact, maybe someone can make a case for Disney trying to prevent someone from trying to take advantage of children. But when you get right down to it, that would hardly be different than the laws outside the walls of Disneydom and the last time I checked you can be a happy Santa-lookalike all you want. Thus, the difference does seem to be that Disney has claimed Santa as their own character.
Let this be a warning to anyone who might happen resemble the “next” Disney character.
Even better, perhaps they’ll license your fingerprint too and then charge you to touch things? What will their lawyers think of next?
Oh, by the way. Disney is raking in the profits. I haven’t looked at the statements in detail, but something tells me it is very lucrative for them to take public domain stories like Cinderella, Pinocchio, the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Snow White, etc. and call them “owned”:
“It is a result of the incredible creativity at our company,” [president and chief executive Bob Iger] added.
Indeed, I say it takes a lot of creativity to say that Santa is “considered a Disney character”, especially in the Christmas season.