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Disney responds to Deadmau5 dispute
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 12 September 2014
If you’re looking for an update on last week’s Beef Of The Week, the rather fun squabble between Disney and Deadmau5, well look no further. Because Disney responded in full earlier this week. Well I say “in full”, it simply denied Deadmau5’s claims and moved along.
As previously reported, it emerged recently that Disney is trying to stop Deadmau5, aka Joel Zimmerman, from trademarking his mouse logo in the States, because of the similarities to its logo. Even though the producer has been using his image for years and has successfully trademarked it elsewhere in the world.
Pissed off about it all, Deadmau5 responded last week by accusing the film company of infringing his copyrights, by posting a reworked Mickey Mouse cartoon using one of his tracks onto YouTube. The soundtrack had only been licensed for use, said Deadmau5’s lawyers, on a Disney Channel TV show. The offending video was quickly removed from Disney’s YouTube profile.
But, don’t go assuming that that is the film firm admitting to misbehaviour. In a short and quite stern statement to Billboard, the company said: “The music was appropriately licensed, and there is no merit to his statement”.
As for the trademark squabble, a spokesperson added: “Disney vigorously protects its trademark rights, and we oppose Mr Zimmerman’s attempt to register a logo that is nearly identical to our trademarks for his commercial exploitation”. And just in case you thought this was about the silly head gear the producer likes to wear at his live shows (no one did), the Disney speaker added: “Our opposition is not about the use of the Deadmau5 costume”.
