The Times reports that officials at Disney World, Florida, have been taking the name of intellectual property in vain. James Worley, a somewhat rotund 60-year old who sports a white beard was told that his resemblance to one Mr S Claus made him unwelcome on Disney premises.
Said Mr Worley:
“They told us Santa was considered a Disney character…Their statement to me was that I needed to alter my appearance . . . or I needed to leave the park because I was impersonating Santa Claus.”
Even after he removed his red hat, children still came up to him and asked him if he was St Nick.
Disney responded:
“Mr Worley came to the park to enjoy himself and we want him to experience that, but he was confusing a lot of our guests. We already have a Santa in the park and we asked him to quit posing as the same character . . . We had several guests who were very upset about it.”
The IPKat is frankly impressed if Disney has found a way to assert personality rights over a fictional character deeply embedded in Western culture.
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