No One Can Talk About Mickey Mouse (Except ABC) 
  Thursday, June 5th, 2008

Yikes...we're going throw one of these ® in so we don't get sued! The Walt Disney Company® is taking some serious steps to protect the brand. The AP reported that the Walt Disney Co. spent over $1 million dollars in the last quarter (yes, one quarter) lobbying for copyright protection and intellectual property issues. They also went to the White House with concerns about patent reform, the US-Columbia free trade agreement, and increased penalties for anyone who violates copyright.

The House approved the copyright proposition this month, and it's now before the Senate. The current intellectual property laws already allow for fines between $750 to $30,000 for non-willful infringement, and up to $150,000 for willful infringement.

Disney's attorneys have been busy: the media giant just updated their website's Terms of Use (in red on their homepage) last month. Now who's going to read all of that just to browse a website?

On another note, we were watching an ABC affiliate news broadcast this week, and included in it was a list of money-saving tips for going to Disneyworld. The tips included things like bring your own water bottles; buy Disney t-shirts before you go instead of at souvenir shops; go during the off-season.

Sneaky, right? Because, of course, The Walt Disney Co. - the third-largest media and entertainment corporation (after Time Warner and News Corporation) - owns ABC. Now, don't get us wrong, we do love Disney. But people, this is why we keep our Big 5 MSM Chart in mind at all times while watching television!

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