Disney Threatens Legal Action Against UK Production Co.

Disney has threatened an independent British production company with legal action.

The entertainment giant claims that Brighton based Brightsparks is misleading consumers with a series of budget family DVDs which appear to be copycat versions of Disney's own popular animated films.

Brightspark Production Ltd, recently launched Braver, which Disney said was similar to its blockbuster Brave in more than just its title.

It has complained that the graphics and artwork, including a red-haired princess in a green dress on the cover of the 45-minute "cartoon fairytale" closely resemble that of its own.

Disney has pointed to further DVDs which it also claims infringe its copyright: Tangled up, which compares with its Tangled; The Frog Princess as opposed to Disney's The Princess and the Frog; and Little Cars as opposed to the Disney film Cars.

Disney has this week written to Brightspark asking it to withdraw the DVDs or face litigation.

Disney said in a statement: "People place great trust in the quality and creativity of Disney, and when it appears that another company is causing confusion among Disney consumers we will act to protect ourselves and the consumer. Disney believes Brightspark has demonstrated a pattern of misleading consumers with numerous releases that confuse and undermine the trust those consumers have in Disney."

Brightspark said it was in discussions with Disney to find a "mutually acceptable" resolution. In a statement it said: "Braver is an item for families on a budget and I very much doubt that anyone would confuse our production with the wonderful work of Disney.

"All we've tried to do is give parents something their children will hopefully find entertaining. We came up with our title around 18 months ago and if we thought consumers would mistake our film for Brave, we would have renamed it."

(H)