Santiago, Chile-based Star Wash is facing a lawsuit from Disney over its use of the Star Wars brand.
It’s been an interesting year for Disney and copyrights. The company has made headlines as the oldest iteration of Mickey Mouse, Steamboat Willie, entered the public domain.
Copyright issues are nothing unusual for Disney, though. It’s often made headlines when it goes after individuals and companies who attempt to use Disney characters.
Now Disney is going after a business that is using the Star Wars license, but the business isn’t exactly what you would expect.
Disney sues Chilean car wash Star Wash over Star Wars copyright
Based out of Santiago, Chile, Star Wash is a car wash that is designed to appeal to Star Wars fans. Now, as reported by Reuters, Walt Disney is suing owner Matias Jara over misuse of the Star Wars copyright.
Jara was in the process of registering the patent for the Star Wash brand when he was hit with the lawsuit.
The car wash makes no attempt to hide its use of Star Wars imagery in its branding and marketing. The Star Wash sign is modeled after the traditional Star Wars logo, while attendants are dressed as Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Kylo Ren and more, hosing down cars and scrubbing tires for customers.
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Photos and videos on the official starwashchile Instagram account show elements modeled after the Millennium Falcon, actors dressed as The Mandalorian promoting the car wash in malls, and more.
Disney has always been fiercely protective of its copyrights. The company has made headlines for a number of high-profile copyright lawsuits over the years. Perhaps most infamous is a 1989 case where Disney sued three Florida daycare centers that used Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy in murals.
More recently, Disney came under fire for refusing to allow an image of Spider-Man on a child’s gravestone. Despite public scrutiny and a petition to allow the image, Disney denied the request due to a long-standing policy not to allow characters to be depicted on headstones.
Disney’s lawsuit argues that Star Wash may mislead people into believing it is an officially affiliated product. Jara, however, argues that the copyright doesn’t extend to car washes.
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