Disney challenges UK film company over 'misleading' DVDs

Brighton-based Brightspark company accused of misleading consumers with similar releases to popular Disney films

Artwork for the Brave and Braver films, about which Disney and Brightspark are in discussions.

Film and entertainment giant Disney has threatened an independent British production company with legal action, claiming it is misleading consumers with a series of budget family DVDs which appear to be copycat versions of Disney's own popular animated films.

The Brighton-based firm, Brightspark Production Ltd, recently launched Braver, which Disney said was similar to its blockbuster Brave in more than just its title.

It has complained that the graphics and artwork, including a red-haired princess in a green dress on the cover of the 45-minute "cartoon fairytale", closely resemble that of its own.

Disney has pointed to further DVDs which it also claims infringe its copyright: Tangled up, which compares with its Tangled; The Frog Princess as opposed to Disney's The Princess and the Frog; and Little Cars as opposed to the Disney film Cars.

Disney's film Brave tells the story of Princess Merida who overcomes a curse after refusing to marry a suitor chosen by her parents, while in Braver Princess Angela is kidnapped in a forest after being put under a spell.

Unlike its cut-price rival, the 93-minute Disney/Pixar film has topped the UK film charts grossing £18m at the box office as of last weekend. The DVD will go on sale in the UK in November.

Disney has this week written to Brightspark asking it to withdraw the DVDs or face litigation. The films are widely available in Sainsbury's and Tesco supermarkets (and online) for about £3 each. They are also on sale through Amazon and HMV (Braver will not be available until December), although the former makes it clear to shoppers that they are not Disney merchandise.

Some film fans said the Brightspark DVDs were good value for money, but others expressed their disappointment with the DVDs on film websites.

On Lovefilm, Richv from Barnsley said of Braver: "The contents bore NO relation to the actual film, in fact I would say the packaging is meant to fool you into thinking you were buying the soon to be released 'Brave'. Stylistically I would say this was made about 20 years ago, very cheaply."

Disney said in a statement: "People place great trust in the quality and creativity of Disney, and when it appears that another company is causing confusion among Disney consumers we will act to protect ourselves and the consumer. Disney believes Brightspark has demonstrated a pattern of misleading consumers with numerous releases that confuse and undermine the trust those consumers have in Disney."

Brightspark's Tangled Up has also drawn consumer criticism. In customer reviews on Amazon someone called Flossie said: "This is the worst DVD I have ever purchased, as all the reviews state below. I don't know about Disney taking a law suit but I shall be contacting trading standards myself for such a misrepresentation of any film."

Brightspark said it was in discussions with Disney to find a "mutually acceptable" resolution. In a statement it said: "Braver is an item for families on a budget and I very much doubt that anyone would confuse our production with the wonderful work of Disney.

"All we've tried to do is give parents something their children will hopefully find entertaining. We came up with our title around 18 months ago and if we thought consumers would mistake our film for Brave, we would have renamed it."

It distanced itself from the other DVDs. "We licensed the Little Cars series and Frog Princess from Branscome International in New York. The original production company is based in South America."

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Ditulis oleh: Unknown - Saturday, June 30, 2012