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PiscesLawsuits Over Kid Bday Parties
Momlogic's Julie on why Ariel was banned at her daughter's birthday party.
When I read "Why Dora the Explorer Can't Come to Your Kid's Birthday Party" in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, I could totally relate. According to WSJ, corporations that own the rights to some of the more popular characters, companies that include Marvel Entertainment Inc., Scholastic Inc., and HIT Entertainment, have sent cease-and-desist letters, threatened lawsuits and, in some cases, received settlements from companies that market unauthorized character impersonators.
I experienced this firsthand when I tried to hire a princess for my 4-year-old's birthday party. She is obsessed with Disney Princesses, and wanted Ariel to come to the party. The first place I called acted like I was a corporate spy when I inquired about hiring an "Ariel."
"Uh, we have someone who looks a lot like Ariel...red hair, mermaid dress," the guy on the other end of the phone said nervously.
"So is she the Ariel character?" I asked, confused.
"Well, you see, we can't technically call her 'Ariel,' because Disney owns the rights to the name and likeness."
You gotta be kidding me, I thought.
"So you'll have to call her Mermaid Princess," he continued in a hushed whisper. "Not Ariel."
Is this for real? I wondered. "Okay, sure, whatever you say."
Sheesh--is this what the world is coming to? We can't even have an Ariel, or a Dora, or a Bob the Builder at our kids' party? The corporations get enough of our money...do they have to deprive our kids of their favorite characters, too?
What do you think of this policy: smart business or corporate greed?
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- 4 Comments
Can’t you just tell the child it’s Ariel. She won’t know the difference.
This is absurd because I’ve seen the heads of Blue Clues, Dora, Bob The Builder and a whole heap of other “licensed” characters being rented at local party stores. Why make and sell/rent the head/costume if you don’t want ordinary folks to wear it. If I rent a Blues Clues head/costume to wear for my Blues Clues loving kid, is Nickelodeon going to sue me??? They could kiss my a$$. I’ve already paid them by buying all their Blues Clues stuff for my kid.
They wouldn’t go after parents, Natalia, just companies that bill themselves as a character without paying for rights. It’s like if you home DJ your own party you can use whatever music you have but if you get paid to do it somewhere and you haven’t purchased the rights to play that music for profit they can come after you for it. If it’s for a private event and no money is exchanged for the performance, slap on that creepy costume shop Dora head and go for it.
It stinks, but they have show that they are actively protecting the intelectual and property rights or they can lose copyright. Same reason Disney sued daycares over wall murals.