BL3: CUFADM02A Posting: “Finding Nemo”

QUESTION 1: What is the Website Address for BBC News?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/

QUESTION 2: After performing your Search, how many postings did your find?
8 postings found.

QUESTION 3: List the Title and Date of each Posting (in ascending date order i.e. from oldest to most recent)
News - Disney sued in France over Nemo 24 Dec 2003
News - Finding Nemo case delayed 29 Jan 2004
News - Finding Nemo 'copy' case begins 24 Feb 2004
Newsround - Frenchman claims he invented Nemo 25 Feb 2004
News - French author loses Nemo battle 12 Mar 2004
Newsround - Writer loses court claim for Nemo 13 Mar 2004
News - Frenchman loses Nemo copy claim 20 Apr 2005
Newsround - Children's author loses Nemo case 21 Apr 2005

QUESTION 4: After reading the postings in date order, write a summary in your own words outlining:

• The initial claim and demands by Franck Le Calvez
• Some key features of the case in relation to the claim of Copyright and Trademark Infringement
• The final court ruling, key issues supporting the court's ruling, and consequences for the various parties involved.

In late 2003, a French author by the name of Franck Le Calvez, claimed that many of the characters in the Disney animated film "Finding Nemo", where very similar to characters in a book he published the year before called "Pierrot the Clown Fish." The author claimed that "Nemo" is 'too similar' to "Pierrot" and that US studio Disney and Pixar Films "ripped off" his fish characters from his book. However, lawyers for Disney Studios claim that "...Nemo's likeness could not be considered a brand in its own right."
After a couple years of court battles, Franck Le Calvez lost his battle against Disney Studios and Pixar Films because there weren't enough similarities between Nemo and Pierrot. Also, a lawyer for Disney Studios stated that the studio had drawn up plans for the character of Nemo in 2000, two years before Franck Le Calvez published his book.