Walt Disney Surrenders to Navy's SEAL Team 6

As a follow up to an earlier story, Disney is apparently waving the white flag before an onslaught of bad PR involving their attempt to co-opt the term "Navy's SEAL Team 6" under copyright law.

Less than a month after a daring raid on Osama bin Laden's secret hideout, the U.S. Navy's SEAL Team 6 notched a victory over the Magic Kingdom.

Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday that it would pull an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in which the entertainment giant sought the exclusive right to use the term "SEAL Team 6" on items ranging from toys and games to snow globes and Christmas stockings

Snow globes? You've got to be kidding me! "Oh, look, sweetie! It's snowing on the bullet riddled corpse of bin Laden! We'll take two!"

Disney withdrew the application "out of deference to the Navy," a spokesman said.

The move comes after comics and other critics ridiculed the Burbank, Calif., company for trying to profit off bin Laden's killing. Disney first made the claim two days after the world learned of the secret special-operations unit's daring mission into the al Qaeda leader's Pakistan compound.

"Putting a trademark on SEAL Team 6 is like copyrighting 'The guys who stormed the beach at Normandy,'" joked "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart last week. "It belongs to all of us."

Navy officers privately expressed relief Wednesday that the company had chosen voluntarily to retract its application, saving the organization from a long trademark battle.

Disney knew that once they had lost Stewart, they'd lost the war. Disney then withdrew to their pre-2011 copyright lines as a condition of the peace.
In return, I may need to give up my copyrighted use of Uncle Walt®, though I may lob an occasional rhetorical missile into the Land of Mouse as necessary.

Uncle Walt® is a registered trademark of Proof Positive blog. Any attempt by a large rodent like corporation to usurp this title or his likeness will be met by the full force of law. The crack attorney firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe has been retained to insure that copyright provisions are strictly adhered to.

H/T Memeorandum

Obama Not the Only One Trying to Profit From the Bravery of our Navy SEALs

In a stunning move of crass commercialism, The Walt Disney company wants you to buy "Seal Team 6" merchandise.

In a perfect example of a big media company looking to capitalize on current events, The Walt Disney Company has trademarked “Seal Team 6,” which also happens to be the name of the elite special forces team that killed Osama Bin Laden.

The trademark applications came on May 3rd, two days after the operation that killed Bin Laden… and two days after “Seal Team 6″ was included in thousands of news articles and TV programs focusing on the operation.

Disney’s trademark applications for “Seal Team 6″ cover clothing, footwear, headwear, toys, games and “entertainment and education services,” among other things.

I'm sorry, but doesn't that just strike you as wrong? The fact that they want to merchandise SEAL team logos as if they were mouse ears, is bad enough. But to try to deny anyone else from using what should be part of the public domain, without their permission, is just too unbelievable.

You have my permission to boycott all things Disney. Uncle Walt® would have wanted it that way!

Uncle Walt® is a registered trademark of Proof Positive blog. Any attempt by a large rodent like corporation to usurp this title or his likeness will be met by the full force of law. The crack attorney firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe has been retained to insure that copyright provisions are strictly adhered to.


As crass as this may be, Disney has it beat by a country mile!

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.