# Mickey Mouse Ears Design?



## diana13t

I have seen quite a few Mickey Mouse Ears transfers being sold on Ebay and websites. Is using the ears a copyright issue? Are these people doing this illegally? Check out the transfers on ebay when I searched "mickey mouse rhinestone designs". I'm not saying I'm going to do this, I'm just curious if this is legal or not.

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m570&_nkw=mickey+mouse+rhinestone+transfers


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## BroJames

Just an opinion.

Just the ears? If we are taling of the 2 ears as in 2 circles, I would think that they are too general to be copyrighted but can't really comment on that. However, if you are talking about 3 circles, including the face/head, or if they are marketed as Mickey Mouse's ears, then I beleive that is illegal.


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## diana13t

Yeah, I was thinking that MAYBE just the ears would be okay, although I'm not going to try it (I can't afford to go up against Disney), but I figured anymore would be too obvious. If you looked at the ebay link, everyone of those referenced "Mickey Mouse". Boy I hope they know what they are doing. I also see a lot of Hello Kitty transfers out there. I can't believe people would risk getting in trouble with such major companies just to sell some transfers.

I was just curious if all that was legal or not.


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## EnMartian

If they're using the words Mickey Mouse or Hello Kitty, and haven't paid license fees to the companies that own those properties, probably not.


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## jsf

diana13t said:


> Yeah, I was thinking that MAYBE just the ears would be okay, although I'm not going to try it (I can't afford to go up against Disney), but I figured anymore would be too obvious. If you looked at the ebay link, everyone of those referenced "Mickey Mouse". Boy I hope they know what they are doing. I also see a lot of Hello Kitty transfers out there. I can't believe people would risk getting in trouble with such major companies just to sell some transfers.
> 
> I was just curious if all that was legal or not.


No it is not OK. Here's one article:

_*Marks using elements which are protected under other laws. *For example, don't even think of using Mickey Mouse as your logo, even if he (and his ears, alone, for that matter) weren't a registered trademark of the Disney company. Drawings of Mickey and friends are protected under copyright._









_Mouse ears are a registered trademark of Walt Disney Company_


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## BroJames

The words are clear but I am just wondering what the images of the ears referred to looks like. These are obviously mickey's ears designed to be worn on the head.









but would 2 black circles count? but then, I think a better question is sho would like to buy 2 black circles? lol

EDIT: SORRY AS THE IMAGES OF MICKEY'S EARS ON JSF'S POST DID NOT APPEAR ON MY OLD LAPTOP BEFORE I POSTED. This post should simply be "I think a better question is sho would like to buy 2 black circles? lol"


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## daffynmark

Personally, I wouldn't do it.

If the image is recognizable as "Mickey's ears", with or without the name listed, more than likely it's covered under copyright. That's the purpose of copyrighting things, to protect the brand a company has created as being theirs and to keep others from profiting from the brand a company has created. 

Now, I have done shirts for my daughter and a couple of her friends with their college initials on them but NO logo. I didn't charge and told them that I would NOT do it for anyone else. I don't need to pay for a college education AND a lawsuit for copyright infringement!


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## PositiveDave

Disney will protect their IP!


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