Walt Disney Productions v. Air Pirates

581 F.2d 751 (1978), 439 U.S. 1132

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Walt Disney Productions v. Air Pirates

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
581 F.2d 751 (1978), 439 U.S. 1132

  • Written by Jack Newell, JD

Facts

Air Pirates (defendant) published a series of comics featuring characters created by Walt Disney Productions (Disney) (plaintiff). The characters were drawn similarly and had the same names. The comics that the characters were in, however, involved adult situations. Disney sued for copyright infringement. Air Pirates claimed the original characters could not be copyrighted. The case was appealed to the Ninth Circuit.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Cummings, J.)

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