Post #131465 by ToonToonz on Thu, Dec 16, 2004 4:55 PM

I knew an artist that painted original paintings of Disney characters (Mickey, Donald, Uncle Scrooge)without Disney permission. He also made prints of his "original" Disney renditions and sold them.
Someone bought one of his Disney originals and started making and selling prints.
The guy got a lawyer and sued him for making copies of his original reproductions of Disney (copyrighted and trademarked) characters.
Anyway to make a long story short, Disney found out and slapped a lawsuit on both. Neither had any money and went away with a slap on the wrist - don´t copy our Disney characters. (It´s okay to make a painting of a Disney character - just don´t try to make money off it.)
Disney did offer the "original" Disney art copier a deal. He could make original Disney paintings if he signed a licensing deal: $100,000 up front to Disney per year, plus Disney accountants could check his accounting books anytime, 24 hours a day.
He no longer paints Disney stuff.
I talked to him at an art trade fair a while back and now he is doing copies of Marilyn Monroe from photos he saw...