Could Disney Be Going After Deadmau5?

Everybody knows Disney’s rep for litigiousness and hardball tactics, and now reports are telling us they may be going after Deadmau5 because the guy’s headgear looks like, you guessed it, Mickey Mouse. Could the mouse house actually take away this poor guy’s stage identity?

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney contacted the U.S. Trademark Office on March 28 to see if Deadmau5 had filed a trademark registration on his head design. Apparently Joel Zimmerman, a.k.a. Deadmau5, applied for a trademark last year, and it would cover a wide variety of areas, especially merchandising.

Certainly Disney could argue that there could be confusion in the marketplace between Deadmau5 and Mickey Mouse, but we’re of the opinion this argument would be pretty silly, because the differences between both mice are pretty clear.

As the Reporter tells us, “Disney has requested and been granted 90 days to investigate the claim and file a notice of opposition,” and we’d be curious to see if this could turn into a situation like when Gene Simmons sued King Diamond and got him to change his makeup.

If Disney decides to go after Deadmau5, it certainly would be bad publicity for the company, although not unexpected considering their history of litigation, common sense be damned. Let’s hope Disney will come to their senses before techno fans everywhere stop attending Disneyland in protest.