SHORT TAKES : Anti-Porn Group Asked to Stop Using Quote From Walt Disney
The Walt Disney Co., which fought Mickey Mouse’s appearance on a day-care wall and Snow White’s performance at the Academy Awards, wants an anti-pornography group to quit quoting its founder.
“Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children,” Walt Disney once said.
The Greater Orlando Coalition Against Pornography used that quotation in a pamphlet outlining the group’s purpose. Last week, the group received a letter from Anne Nielsen, a Disney attorney, asking them to delete any reference to Disney from the brochure.
She said the quotation “conveys to the public the impression that there is an association or connection with the Walt Disney Co.” But the coalition’s executive director, Don Pinkston, said it is all a misunderstanding and he hopes to settle the issue with Disney.
In recent years, Disney has threatened legal action when it believed its property rights over Disney names and characters were being violated.
Last year, a south Florida day-care center had to remove wall paintings of Disney characters, the Academy Awards producers were rebuked for using the Snow White character without permission and a Kissimmee gift shop using the name “Mickie’s” was challenged.
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