Public Domain questions

[Shad Z.]

From: Mark Wright <nicodemuslegend at cp.fuller.edu>

> On another matter entirely,
> There has been a good deal of discussion about 
> Launchpad McQuack's role as a "substitute Donald" 
> in "DuckTales," and I've done some searching on 
> Google that indicates that this was done for 
> Marketing reasons.  Does anyone have more detailed 
> information?  It does not seem as though the folks 
> who did "DuckTales" were forbidden to use Donald, 
> as he did indeed show up from time to time.  He 
> was just written out of the action for the most 
> part by putting him in the Navy.

What I heard was that the Disney brass was worried 
that if Donald starred in DuckTales, then licencees
who already had a license to make Donald Duck products
(toys, greeting cards, orange juice) could claim
that DuckTales should fall under their Dinald license,
and they could make DuckTales toys (or greeting cards
or orange juice) without paying extra.

On later shows (Quack Attack, House of Mouse), 
Disney doesn't seem to be worried about this any more.
I assume they have standardized their licensing
contracts so the status of spin-offs is more
clear...


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Shad Z.                      ^Q^
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