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Law firm sues Disney over 'Steamboat Willie' ad

Skyler Swisher, Orlando Sentinel on

Published in Business News

The Morgan & Morgan law firm sued Disney in federal court on Wednesday, seeking a ruling that it can use an adaptation of the nearly century-old “Steamboat Willie” cartoon in one of its ads without violating the entertainment giant’s intellectual property rights.

The iconic 1928 animated short, featuring the public debut of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, entered the public domain last year, but Disney still holds trademarks for later iterations of the characters.

The Orlando-based personal injury firm filed the suit after Disney’s lawyers declined to say whether they would object to the commercial, according to the complaint filed in the U.S. Middle District Court in Orlando.

The proposed 37-second ad shows a Minnie Mouse-type character calling the law firm after Mickey Mouse crashes a boat into her car. It includes a disclaimer that the ad was not approved, authorized or endorsed by Disney.

Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.

Morgan & Morgan hopes to broadcast the ad nationwide on television and online, the lawsuit says.

 

The law firm provided a link to the ad in a July 15 letter to Disney’s legal team and asked for its opinion on whether it violated any of the company’s intellectual property rights, according to the suit. A Disney lawyer responded that Disney does not typically “provide legal advice to third parties,” according to a letter filed with the court.

Morgan & Morgan contends in the suit that “Disney has a well-documented history of aggressively enforcing its asserted trademark rights,” including a July 16 lawsuit filed against another company selling jewelry that incorporated elements from “Steamboat Willie.”

“Disney’s refusal to disclaim enforcement, its history of aggressive litigation over substantially similar uses, and its recent lawsuit against a third party, create a reasonable apprehension that Disney will sue Morgan & Morgan if it proceeds with the planned use of the advertisement,” the complaint states.

The suit asks a judge to declare that the commercial does not infringe on any of Disney’s trademark rights and block the entertainment giant from filing suit.


©2025 Orlando Sentinel. Visit at orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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